This is no easy task as Vietnam has about 5.4 million people with disabilities, accounting for 6.34 percent of its total population.

The workshop was organized by Labour and Social Affairs magazine and the US organization CRS to examine social attitudes toward the disabled and the media’s coverage of the issue in the hope of providing journalists with some new approaches to the handicapped and their problems.

The Party and State have given much attention to assistance programmes for the disabled and the press has made an effort to portray their difficulties in a responsible manner.

However, a lot more remains to be done, according to Nguyen Trong Dam, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, who attended the workshop. Mr Dam says the disabled should be viewed from a social perspective, with the aim of removing all social barriers against them. The press can play an important role in reducing community prejudice against people with disabilities.