On April 10, 2019, the 2016 NDPS/MFS National Dissemination Forum was conducted at Swiss-Blu Hotel in Sta. Cruz, Manila. The said forum was initiated by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to assess and evaluate the results of the first National Disability Prevalence Survey or Model Functioning Survey (NDPS/MFS) in collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH), National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), University of the Philippines- Manila and with the technical assistance from World Health Organization (WHO).

The NDPS/MFS was conducted in November 2016 with around 11,000 sample households nationwide. One household member aged 15 years and over is randomly selected in each sample household. The concept or understanding of disability used in the MDS is the outcome of the interaction between health conditions and impairments of an individual and his/her environment whether physical, social, attitudinal and/or political. Disability levels of respondents were measured by answering a series of questions in seventeen (17) functioning domains namely: (1) mobility; (2) hand and arm use; (3) self–care (4) seeing; (5) hearing; (6) pain; (7) energy and drive; (8) breathing; (9) affect (depression and anxiety); (10) interpersonal relationship; (11) handling stress; (12) communication; (13) cognition; (14) household tasks; (15) community and citizenship participation; (16) caring for others; (17) work and schooling.

The answers of the respondents were given equivalent scores and based on the scores, each respondent was classified as to having: “no disability”; “mild disability”; “moderate disability”; and “severe disability”.                  

But the NDPS/MFS result was still put on embargoes and is not yet ready for publication due to the reason that it might cause misunderstanding on the concept of Disability used in the Model Disability Survey (MDS). Because some people think that disability refers only to physical imperfection. Disability is not understood as something one might have or not, it is not an internal attribute of a person, and not something that cause or contribute to the development of a disease or condition. But disability is an experience. It is an outcome of an interaction.

Yet the hardest thing to overcome is not a physical disability but the mental condition which it induces. The   world has a way of taking a man pretty much at his own rating. If he permits his loss to make him embarrassed, then he will draw embarrassment from others. But if he gains his own respect, the respect of those around him comes easily.