Almost one billion people with disabilities and older persons are being denied access to assistive technology, according to a UN report published on Monday, calling on governments and industry to fund and prioritize access.
Produced jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The Global Report on Assistive Technology presents new evidence of the global need for – and access to – tech that can make a fundamental difference.
“Assistive technology is a life changer – it opens the door to education for children with impairments, employment and social interaction for adults living with disabilities, and an independent life of dignity for older persons,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Huge disparities
Although more than 2.5 billion people require one or more assistive products to support communication and cognition – such as wheelchairs or hearing aids – a shocking one billion simply have no access to them.
The report highlights the vast gap between low and high-income countries, with an analysis of 35 States revealing that admittance varies from three per cent in poorer nations, to 90 per cent in wealthy countries.
“Nearly 240 million children have disabilities,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
Denying them the right to the products they need to thrive not only harms individual children, “it deprives families and their communities of everything they could contribute if their needs were met,” she added.
Source: UN News
