HRH Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General ordered that disabled citizens should be exempted from paying fees for residence permits (iqamas) and visas for their workers. The Crown Prince's order came as part of his directions for the implementation of recommendations made in the interest of disabled citizens. Crown Prince Sultan instructed all the governmental bodies involved in the service of the disabled to execute the recommendations adopted by the joint committee he formed to study the standards of the service rendered to the disabled below 15 years old, which cover educational, health, rehabilitative and sheltering services. Prince Sultan has approved all the recommendations made by the committee and instructed the concerned authorities to directly report to him about any obstacles that may hamper the execution of these recommendations. In line with these recommendations, the disabled will be covered by the governmental health insurance program, besides giving them therapeutic services within the services covered by medical insurance companies. Special trauma units will be created in major hospitals for the treatment of those involved in traffic accidents, particularly those with spinal cord injuries, as well as expanding the services of centers specialized in prosthesis and supporting devices, the recommendations added. The recommendations exempted all the disabled, regardless of gender, from payment of Iqama and working visa fees for drivers, house helpers and nurses they employ. Under the recommendations, the financial aid given to disabled men and women will be increased in a way that helps them cope with the rising cost of living, so as to encourage their families to look after them in a familial environment, as well as extending social security aid to families with disabled members. Apart from this, physiotherapy treatment, occupational treatment and nursing services should be made available in service centers devoted to patients with special needs. In line with these recommendations, all disabled citizens who meet the admission conditions set by higher professional institutes, including those suffering from autism, educational difficulties and hearing disabilities will be accommodated in these institutions so as to integrate into society. Crown Prince Sultan further ordered a plan to be worked out for the development of university educational programs designed for those with special needs in a way to cope with the developments witnessed in the field internationally, the recommendations mentioned. One thousand scholarships in areas of special education and rehabilitation of disabled should be approved in the next five years besides increasing the number of seats provided for outstanding disabled students in the country's professional institutes. The recommendations also included allocation of 5 percent in the development of the human resources fund and in programs of productive families sponsored by the social security fund for the training and rehabilitation of the disabled. They also stressed the importance of establishing special unit in the Human Rights Commission to follow up the rights of the disabled. In addition to this the recommendations also make it imperative working out of a partial working schedule for the disabled suffering from acute disability besides giving the disabled top priority in the loans given by the Real Estate Fund. Within these recommendations especial units will be established to help in the employment of the trained disabled. __
