Estimates of the prevalence of disability in Egypt have ranged from 1.8% to 11%. Egypt ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 10 April 2008. The Egyptian constitution of 2014 guarantees a range of rights for people with disabilities, and Egypt passed legislation entitled the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in February 2018.
Ramesses-Meryamun-Nebweben, son of the Pharaoh Ramasses II, had kyphosis.[1]
Estimates for the prevalence of disability in Egypt have varied widely. The 2006 Egyptian census reported that 1.8% of the population had a disability.[2] However, a study in 2011 by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and Egyptian civil society estimated that 8.5 million people, or 11% of Egypt's population, had a disability.[2]
Egypt is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, having signed the treaty on 4 April 2007 and ratified it on 10 April 2008.[3]
In 1975, Egypt passed the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act.[4] Egypt passed legislation entitled the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in February 2018, the first legislation on disability since 1975.[4] The law covers topic including health, the job market, legal protection, political rights, and rehabilitation.[4]
The Egyptian constitution of 2014 states:[5]
In response to the WHO's Global Disability Action Plan 2014–2021, in 2015 a technical consultation was carried out in Egypt for the development of a National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plan.[6]