Assistive technology plays a crucial role in empowering individuals to lead fulfilling and autonomous lives, promoting their overall well-being, and fostering their active engagement in education, employment, and community activities. By providing valuable support and enhancing independence, assistive technology significantly reduces the reliance on formal healthcare services, long-term care facilities, and the efforts of caregivers. Its absence often leads to exclusion, isolation, and a higher likelihood of poverty, exacerbating the challenges faced by individuals, their families, and society at large, especially in the face of illness and disability.
The Global Report on Assistive Technology, jointly released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, is a response to the World Health Assembly resolution (WHA71.8) aimed at enhancing access to assistive technology. The resolution was adopted in May 2018. With the staggering statistic that globally 90% of individuals in need of assistive technology lack access to it, the Report holds significant importance.
This comprehensive Report is set to play a crucial role in establishing a global roadmap for improving the availability of assistive technology to people worldwide. Its primary audience includes policy-makers, assistive technology providers, donors, funding agencies, and industry leaders. By addressing the pressing issue of limited access to assistive technology, the Report aims to drive meaningful change and create a more inclusive environment for all individuals, regardless of their location or circumstances.
Assistive Technology refers to various items, equipment, software programs, or product systems that enhance, maintain, or improve the functional abilities of individuals with disabilities. These aids encompass a wide range, including physical products like wheelchairs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, prostheses, walking devices, or continence pads. They also encompass digital tools such as software and apps that facilitate communication and time management. Additionally, adaptations to the physical environment, such as portable ramps or grab-rails, fall under the umbrella of assistive technology.
Different disabilities require specific assistive technologies tailored to address challenges related to speaking, typing, writing, memory, vision, hearing, learning, or mobility. These technologies aim to provide support and assistance to individuals with diverse needs, promoting their independence and overall quality of life.
The key facts assistive technology encompasses a wide range of systems and services involved in delivering assistive products and support. Assistive products play a vital role in preserving or enhancing an individual’s functioning and independence, thereby contributing to their overall well-being.
Examples of assistive products include hearing aids, wheelchairs, communication aids, spectacles, prostheses, pill organizers, and memory aids. On a global scale, over 2.5 billion people require one or more assistive products to meet their specific needs.
Considering the ageing global population and the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, it is projected that over 3.5 billion people will require at least one assistive product by 2050. Additionally, a significant number of older individuals will require two or more assistive products.
Benefit from assistive technology can benefit a wide range of individuals across different age groups and abilities. Here are some groups that can benefit from assistive technology:
People with Disabilities: Assistive technology offers invaluable support to individuals with physical, sensory, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. It helps enhance their mobility, communication, independent living skills, and overall quality of life.
Older Adults: Assistive technology enables older adults to age in place and maintain their independence. It includes devices such as hearing aids, mobility aids, medication reminders, and home automation systems, which help address age-related challenges and promote active aging.
Individuals with Chronic Health Conditions: People with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease can benefit from assistive technology that monitors vital signs, tracks medication schedules, provides reminders, and facilitates communication with healthcare providers.
Students with Learning Disabilities: Assistive technology tools, such as text-to-speech software, speech recognition programs, and adaptive learning platforms, assist students with learning disabilities in accessing educational materials, improving their comprehension, and developing academic skills.
Individuals with Communication Disorders: Assistive technology devices like augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems support individuals with communication disorders, enabling them to express themselves, participate in conversations, and engage with their environment effectively.
Caregivers: Assistive technology not only benefits individuals directly but also eases the burden on caregivers. It includes assistive devices like patient lifts, home monitoring systems, and caregiver support apps, which enhance safety, efficiency, and peace of mind for caregivers.
It is important to note that the specific assistive technology needs vary depending on the individual’s unique circumstances, abilities, and requirements.
Assistive technology offers significant advantages in terms of health, well-being, and socioeconomic outcomes for individuals and their families. The following examples illustrate the positive impact:
Enhanced Language Skills and Education: The appropriate utilization of hearing aids in young children improves their language abilities. Without such intervention, individuals with hearing loss face limited educational and employment prospects.
Improved Accessibility and Reduced Healthcare Costs: Manual wheelchairs provide increased access to education and employment opportunities, while also mitigating healthcare expenses by reducing the risk of pressure sores and contractures.
Independent Living for Older Adults: Assistive technology enables older individuals to age in place, fostering independence and postponing or preventing the need for long-term care.
Prevention of Complications: Therapeutic footwear for individuals with diabetes lowers the occurrence of foot ulcers, subsequently reducing the need for lower limb amputations. This preventive measure alleviates the burden on healthcare systems.
These examples highlight how assistive technology contributes to improved health outcomes, increased autonomy, and economic benefits for individuals, their families, and society as a whole.
The majority of the country’s challenges lack a comprehensive national policy or program focused on assistive technology. Access disparities in numerous countries and access to assistive technology within the public sector are inadequate or non-existent. This issue extends to high-income countries where assistive products are often limited or excluded from health and welfare schemes, resulting in significant out-of-pocket expenses for users and their families.
Insufficient Support for Age-Related Hearing Loss For instance, several European countries adhere to a policy that provides older individuals with only one hearing aid, despite the fact that most people with age-related hearing loss require a pair of hearing aids to effectively address their condition.
The industry of assistive products is currently constrained and focused on catering primarily to high-income markets. There is a deficiency in state funding, nationwide service delivery systems, research and development centered around user needs, procurement systems, quality and safety standards, as well as the design of products that are suitable for specific contexts.
In high-income countries, services for assistive products are frequently fragmented and lack integration. This results in individuals having to attend multiple appointments at different locations, leading to increased costs and placing additional burdens on users, caregivers, as well as health and welfare budgets.
In many low- and middle-income countries, there is a lack of national service delivery systems for assistive products. Those who can afford them are compelled to purchase these products directly from pharmacies, private clinics, or workshops.
Individuals from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds often have to rely on sporadic donations or charitable services that primarily focus on distributing large quantities of low-quality or used products. Unfortunately, such products are often ill-suited for the user and the specific context and lack mechanisms for repair and follow-up. A similar situation is prevalent in emergency response programs.
Having trained health personnel is crucial for the effective prescription, fitting, user training, and follow-up of assistive products. Without these critical steps, assistive products often fail to provide any significant benefit or are abandoned, and in some cases, they can even pose physical harm (such as providing wheelchairs without pressure relief cushions for individuals with spinal injuries).
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development places significant emphasis on promoting good health and well-being as part of a new development vision. One of the key pillars in achieving this vision is the concept of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which aims to ensure that all individuals can access necessary health services without experiencing financial hardship.
For UHC to be truly inclusive, it is essential that people have access to high-quality assistive products whenever and wherever they need them. Addressing the unmet need for assistive products is of paramount importance in realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), establishing Universal Health Coverage, and effectively implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been ratified by 177 countries.
The principle of “leaving no one behind” requires us to ensure that individuals with disabilities, older populations, and those affected by chronic diseases are fully included in society and empowered to lead healthy and dignified lives.
In response to the challenges surrounding assistive technology, the World Health Organization (WHO) is actively coordinating the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE). This initiative aims to enhance access to affordable, high-quality assistive technology for individuals worldwide.
As part of the GATE initiative, WHO is developing four practical tools that will assist countries in addressing the aforementioned challenges effectively.
WHO recognizes the GATE initiative as a tangible step towards achieving the objectives set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, universal health coverage, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
By reinforcing WHO’s global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services across all stages of life, as well as action plans on non-communicable diseases, ageing and health, disability, and mental health, the GATE initiative contributes significantly to WHO’s comprehensive approach towards improving global health outcomes.
Dr. Rajiv Kumar
Post-Doctoral-Fellow,
DAIC, CUG,
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Government of India, 15-Janpath, New Delhi 110001
