World Down Syndrome Day 21st March: All you need to know

Ample access to health care, early intervention programmes and inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 21-03-2018 12:32 IST | Created: 21-03-2018 12:18 IST
World Down Syndrome Day 21st March: All you need to know
WDSD 2018 (Image credit: UN)

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is observed on March 21. In December 2011, the General Assembly declared 21 March as World Down Syndrome Day since then this day is celebrated every year.

On this day, people with Down syndrome and those who live and work with them throughout the world organize and participate in activities and events to raise public awareness and create a single global voice for advocating for the rights, inclusion and well being of people with Down syndrome.

Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, exists in all regions across the globe and commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics or health.

Ample access to health care, early intervention programmes and inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.

WDSD Conference 2018                                            

The World Down Syndrome Day Conference is being held at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. It will bring together people with Down syndrome, their supporters and advocates, senior representatives of major employers, experts in the field of disability employment, government and UN officials

The World Down Syndrome Day Conference 2018 is sponsored by the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Poland and the United Kingdom, International Labor Organization, International Disability Alliance and Inclusion International.

The conference aims to advance the human rights of persons with Down syndrome and disabilities, utilizing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and other human rights instruments. Speakers comprise a wide cross-section of countries around the world and include professionals, advocates and self-advocates.

According to United Nations report, the estimated incidence of Down Syndrome is between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,100 live births worldwide. Each year approximately 3,000 to 5,000 children are born with this chromosome disorder and it is believed there are about 250,000 families in the United States of America who are affected by Down Syndrome.

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