Assistive Products

Bangladesh is a South Asian developing country established in 1971. Around 10% of the total population of this country are the disabled. Although the economic condition of this country is accelerating, the situation of persons with disabilities (PWD) could not make a notable improvement so far. The government of Bangladesh has enacted many laws, acts, ordinances regarding PWDs, but these have not implemented properly until now. Besides, there is no law in Bangladesh for ensuring the provision of assistive products (AP). Along with social, economic, and cultural influences, political issues also considered as impactful in Bangladesh for the PWDs. The country has experienced different forms of government from its independence and frequent changes of political regime. Moreover, different political parties had made various changes on disability issues from their political manifesto to the policy implementation process. The confrontational political culture of Bangladesh also hampered some disability-related programs to implement at different times. Nevertheless, the analytical study of the impacts of political issues on disability and APs in Bangladesh had not done so far. To facilitate better policy formulation and effective policy implementation on disability that study of political impact on disability issues is necessary. A comparative study of different political regimes is also needed to minimize disability problems. In these circumstances, this research was conducted to reveal the present situation and paving the way for future improvement on disability issues by exploring the impacts of political issues on disability and APs in Bangladesh.