China plans to establish university for disability rehabilitation

China will establish a dedicated university to train specialists in disability rehabilitation in the next five years, an official said at a press conference Wednesday.

Rehabilitation currently provided in the country is far from enough to satisfy the demands of the disabled, said Zhang Haidi, chairwoman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Among the 26 million-plus people who hold national disability certificates, less than 30 percent received rehabilitation therapy in 2015, Zhang said, adding rehabilitation centers still have spotty service.

"The main problem lies in the lack of specialists in disability rehabilitation," she noted, adding only about 70 schools offer education in rehabilitative medicine across the country, with at most 8,000 people trained each year.

China is home to 85 million disabled people, with more than 70 percent living in the countryside. Authorities pledged to improve support and protection of disabled people by offering them more customized public services and products in the next five years.

According to a plan for disability-related development between 2016 and 2020 released by the State Council on August 17, public services in disability prevention, rehabilitation, education, as well as cultural and sports activities will be standardized to boost efficiency and quality of services.

Establishing a university for disability rehabilitation has been included in the country's 13th Five-year Plan, according to Zhang.

"We hope the building of the rehabilitation university can begin as soon as possible with the support from society and government departments to help more disabled people receive rehabilitation therapy," Zhang said. Endi