- The second leading cause is comprised of war, trauma, and accidents. 
   - The most common type of accident is road accidents.
- Disabilities like cerebral palsy result from poor quality of perinatal care.
- Other causes of disability include malnutrition.
   - Vitamin A, iron, and iodine deficiencies. 
- Chronic medical conditions such as rheumatic diseases and diabeties 

Other leading causes of disabilities in Africa

Many causes of disabilities in LICs and less developed countries are preventable, but cannot be treated due to a lack of healthcare. Meanwhile, many countries with well-developed healthcare systems have  have experienced a significant decrease in these preventable causes. 

For example, the polio vaccine significantly decreased the impact of the polio epidemic, leading to the perceived eradication of the disease. If the vaccine was created at a later time, would we continue to see high rates of preventable disabilities? 

It also leads to the question, why aren't these developed countries providing aid? If these causes of disability are preventable, surely they there is some form of aid that is possible. It is frustrating that LICs could have a decreased rate of disabilities, but there is a lack of activism towards prevention from the government and other countries.

How Would the Cause of Disabilities be Different in Developed Countries without Advanced Medical Care?

The WHO (World Health Organization) reported that infectious disease was one of the most significant causes of disability in Africa. Some of the most common communicable diseases include malaria, polio, leprosy, tuberculosis, trachoma, otitis media, meningitis. and various parasitic diseases. In developed countries many of these diseases have been greatly reduced to health care and vaccinations but these diseases remain leading causes of disability in LICs.

Cedarville University

- The disabled population has a large percentage of children, with one third being children. 
  - Many of these disabilities are preventable, but lack of access to healthcare makes treatment difficult, resulting in 65 percent of disabilities affecting children being preventable. 
  - Even more alarming is the research that 98 percent of children with disabilities in low-income countries (LICs) do not attend school.
- Ten percent of the world's population has a sensory, physical, or intellectual disability. 
- Once taking family members into account, about 25 percent of people in the world are impacted by disabilities.
- Two thirds of all people with disabilities live in LICs. Global disability is rapidly increasing, mainly due to population growth in less developed countries, and this further shows the alarming disparity of disabled populations across the world. 

Statistics of Disabilities Across the World

Debra L Cameron, PhD OT (Reg) and others, Children with disabilities in low-income countries, Paediatrics & Child Health, Volume 10, Issue 5, 5/6 2005, Pages 269–272, https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/10.5.269

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