Dakar race legend calls for ministry for the disabled

Disabled campaigner Philippe Croizon – a quadruple amputee who was the first person to swim between all five continents – has called on France’s presidential candidates to set out clear proposals for disabled people.

He said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche that disability was wedged into the dossier of the Ministry of Social affairs and Health and demanded: “There are 12million disabled people in France; we need our own ministry.”

The sportsman, adventurer, motivational speaker and author lives in Vendée and earlier this year completed the gruelling Dakar Rally. He is one of France's leading disability advocates and said he had contacted all 11 candidates – but in vain.

"Not one of them has addressed the issue properly."

One glaring example of the way disability is treated as a secondary issue is the law which required all public buildings to be wheelchair accessible by January 1, 2015. "Only 30% of them are applied the law. The rest absolutely flout the law.

“They don't care, because there are no sanctions for ignoring the law, and this government pushed the deadlines for public buildings back to 2020, and for public transport to 2024.

“The same is true for the 2016 law which obliged employers of more than 20 people to ensure that 6% of their employees are disabled. People flout it with impunity.

“Only 16% of middle schools are wheelchair accessible! How can the disabled access employment if they are denied access to education and training?”

The coming May issue of The Connexion has a full interview with Philippe Croizon. It is on sale at the end of this month but, if you hurry, you can still get a subscription copy by subscribing here.

You can read the Journal du Dimanche interview, here.