There are some 35,000 people who have disabilities in Malta with 20,620 of them registered with the Commission for Persons with a disability, Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli said on Thursday.
On the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, being celebrated on Thursday, the minister met Josef Farrugia, a person with disabilities who was her classmate 36 years ago, when she was seven.
She said it was then that she had started to understand what the meaning of disability was when the boy asked for her help during an exercise.
The international theme chosen for the day is "Not all disabilities are visible".