disability screening or evaluation studies. There is a need for better coordination and technical rigour in the information gathering on disability. There is an urgent need to conduct a national wide disability survey. It is also necessary to include the set of questions developed by Washington Group on Disability Statistics in the next population census of the Maldives (Nihad 2008). In this context, it will be important to make the Department of National Statistics as the national focal agency for disability statistics and designate a Statistician from the Department as the focal point for disability statistics in the Maldives. 9.8 Inadequate and inequitable financial assistance Financial assistance is provided only for the legally blind among persons with disabilities. The financial assistance given to legally blind persons was increased from Rf500 to Rf1500 as a result of discussions held by HRCM with concerned agencies of the Government regarding a petition received by HRCM. There are several persons with severe disabilities who do not receive income support. The Welfare Section of the Ministry of Health and Family provides monthly financial support to some persons with disabilities through the social safety net scheme on absolute poverty. People who receive income support on the grounds of disability and/or health conditions are likely to increase in the future and it is critically important to develop a set of standard criteria that can be used to provide adequate and equitable financial assistance Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) represents a model that can be used to provide more equitable financial assistance to persons with disabilities. The WHO model “DALY” was developed as an input to the World Bank’s World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health (Anand and Hanson 1997). DALY is now used as a tool for policy making in several countries. DALYs combine time lived with a disability and the time lost due to premature mortality. Years lived with disability are translated into equivalent time loss by using weights which reflect reduction in functional capacity, with higher weights corresponding to a greater reduction. Disability weights are obtained by posing two different Person Trade-Off (PTO) questions to expert panels. PTO1 compares life extensions for persons with disabilities and healthy people while PTO2 compares cures for illness with extension of life. The disability weights in DALYs can be used in the Maldives as a standard measure to identify the extent of disability and financial allowances could then be given to persons with disabilities depending on the standard table which shows level of disability and the amount of allowance to be given. ACTIVITIES ADDRESSING RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES for persons with disabilities. ... 67