Data collection and inclusion of the population with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Objective. To identify surveys that included questions about disability during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the period 2020–2021; and based on this, to determine what actions the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean implemented in the areas of education, health, and social protection that explicitly included the population with disabilities. Methods. Documents from the national statistics institutes of the countries of the region were reviewed, as well as the Socioeconomic Impact Assessment platform and webpages of international institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, seeking to identify national or regional surveys implemented during 2020 and the first half of 2021. Additionally, a documentary analysis was conducted of the measures implemented in the health, education, and social protection sectors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These documents were studied to determine whether the population with disabilities was explicitly mentioned. Results. Twenty-three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean collected information from statistical surveys during 2020–2021. Of these, only four (Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru) included questions on disability in their national surveys and although some specific surveys were conducted for the population with disabilities, in the region there is a general lack of associated data on this population during the pandemic. Only 10 countries explicitly included the population with disabilities in health measures, 12 in education, and 13 in social protection. Conclusions. The lack of data on the population with disabilities in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that this population remains invisible in information collection processes. This is associated with the low number of countries that explicitly included the population with disabilities in policies implemented to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.