Investigators began conducting a sample survey of disabled people in eight communities in Nanshan District on Saturday, as part of a national effort to get updated information on the handicapped population to assist in policy-making.

The door-to-door survey will be completed May 31, and the results will be released by the end of 2007. Investigators, made up of staff from the district's association for the handicapped, statistics bureau and public health bureau, promised to keep individual information confidential.

About 3,200 residents in the eight communities would be surveyed, investigators said. Shenzhen's other districts will be surveyed from May onwards.

Residents of the eight communities can bring their children under 6 to designated places for free medical checkups, the investigators said. They will also call households for appointments before conducting the door-to-door survey, which include questions and medical tests if necessary.

The nationwide sampling, held 19 years after the first national survey, is expected to collect fresh data relating to the handicapped population and the makeup of the disabled, their capacity to participate in society, the causes of handicap, and their medical, employment and educational backgrounds.

The survey is expected to offer scientific, accurate and comprehensive information for the enacting of laws and regulations concerning disabled people.

The large-scale investigation will be conducted among some 2.6 million people in 5,980 residential communities of 734 randomly selected cities, counties and districts across the country.

About 20,000 professional investigators and 6,000 medical staff will visit permanent residents in the selected regions.

Enormous changes have taken place for disabled people since China conducted its first national sample survey on disabled population in 1987, which has made it difficult for policy-making by governments at different levels, said Deng Pufang, chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation. He called on the public to render support to the survey.

Official statistics show that by 2004, 80 percent of the disabled had been employed, more than 4,110 disabled students had been enrolled by universities, and 543,000 others had received vocational trainings. More than 40,000 disabled students had also received financial aid to complete their education.

(Shenzhen Daily April 3, 2006)