In Sardinia, 7 percent of the population is disabled (more or less seriously), much more than the 5 percent national average, and this makes it the most affected Italian region together with Umbria.
And, of course, the disability rate increases with age, something that the land of centenarians does quite well at , but even here the percentages are against the Island: among the over 75s, 25.9 percent of the population has a disability, that is, more than one in four inhabitants, while the national average speaks of less than one in five: 19.2 percent.
The figures of the second “Disability Report in Sardinia” edited by the Ierfop training institute, with the contribution of the Fondazione di Sardegna, have rather dark hues.
"Especially because the record is not only for the elderly population," sighs Roberto Pili, president of Ierfop, "but also for the young population: the percentage of disabilities among students is equal to four, that is, among the highest in Italy. And within this group, 95% suffer from intellectual disabilities."
What doesn't work here? Bachisio Zolo, director of Ierfop, talks about "institutions that are not up to the challenge brought by disability: just think that eight out of ten support teachers have no qualifications to carry out this function".
And he adds that "the Region must do much more to combat the phenomenon, also because disabled people, especially young people, who live in small communities have very few possibilities of integrating, and integration also increases abilities".
In these video interviews we heard the president and director of Ierfop, Roberto Pili and Bachisio Zolo .