Although this is the most significant legal definition of disability, other
definitions are sometimes used by specific agencies. In the case of the census, for
example, disability is labeled "permanent incapacity" and is defined in the Census
Taker's Manual as "a permanent difficulty to perform activities in the manner or
within the range considered normal, as a consequence of irreversible effects of a
congenital or acquired incurable disease."5
The 6th Population and 5th Housing Census, conducted by the INEC in 2001, collected information on the number of people with disabilities in the country. At the time of the census, Ecuador had a total population of approximately 12 million people and people with disabilities accounted for 4.65% or approximately 558,000.6 The census question used to identify people with disabilities asked whether each person "has some permanent incapacity of a physical, sensorial or mental type." The focus on "incapacity," as well as the narrow definition of disability it implies, indicates that the INEC most likely missed significant numbers of people with disabilities. In addition to potential question wording problems, other methodological problems included lack of interviewer training and knowledge about disabilities and interviewer omission of disability-related questions.7
Moreover, this figure contrasts sharply with data from the "Study of the Current Disability Situation in Ecuador" (ESADE) published by the National Council on Disabilities (CONADIS), which found that people with disabilities number 13.2 percent of the population.8 The ESADE survey was conducted by a professionally trained team from the Central University of Ecuador. The definitions of disability used in that survey were provided by CIDDM, which uses classifications prepared by the WHO.
Among the causes of disabilities reported by national disability
organizations, including the National Federation of Ecuadorians with Disability,
the National Federation of the Blind of Ecuador, and the National Federation of
the Deaf of Ecuador, are pollution from oil extraction and the harmful effects of
chemicals used in flower crops and banana plantations.9
5. INEC, Manual del Empadronador para VI Censo de Población y V de Vivienda [Census Taker's Manual for the 6th Population and 5th Housing Census], (Instituto Geográfico Militar, Quito, November 2001), 38, 39.
6. INEC, Información del VI Censo de Población y V de Vivienda 2001, relacionada con población con Discapacidad en el Ecuador [Information from the 6th Population and 5th Housing Census, 2001, related to the population with Disabilities in Ecuado], Communication 348-DIFU-SETEC, (D.M., Quito, 19 August 2003).
7. Dr. Ramiro Cesar Flores (executive Director of CONDADIS), interviewed by author, 15 August 2003; Xavier Torres (President of FENEDIF), interviewed by author, 23 August 2003; Quito Panel discussion, 23 August 2003; Riobamba Panel discussion, 27 September 2003.
8. CONADIS, "Resumen Ejecutivo de la Fase Epidemiológica del Proyecto ESADE" [Executive Summary of the Epidemiological Phase of Project ESADE] Situación Actual de las Personas con Discapacidad en el Ecuador, [Current situation of people with disabilities in Ecuador] (Imprenta y Offset Santa Rita, Quito, 2000), 1 - 85.