WHO Director-General's remarks at the Assistive Technology report launch – 16 May 2022

Your Excellency Prime Minister Micheál Martin,

Excellency Minister Anne Rabbitte,

My colleague Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed,

My colleague Executive Director Catherine Russell,

Dear colleagues and friends,

First of all, I would like to start by thanking you, Your Excellency, for your leadership. Your presence today tells millions. So I would like to say thank you so much for your leadership.

The report we are launching today with UNICEF is the first global snapshot of the need for - and access to - assistive technology.

You can imagine to what extent this area has been neglected. Imagine, the first report ever - it's actually embarrassing to say that.

Assistive technology is an umbrella term for the products that people with disabilities and older persons need to live their lives more fully, including hearing aids, prosthetic devices, wheelchairs and much more.

It also includes more high-tech assistance, like screen-reading software for people with visual impairment, and computer apps for people with cognitive decline.

This report reveals that the global need is much larger than previously thought: an estimated 2.5 billion people need assistive technology.

That number is set to grow to over 3.5 billion by 2050, as populations age and the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases increases.

The report also shows vast inequalities in access to assistive technology between high- and low-income countries, ranging from less than 3% in poorer countries to 90% in wealthy ones.

This is a stunning disparity. And it is one we can - and must - address.

Most countries reported large gaps in the provision of services and the number of trained health workers for assistive technology, especially in the areas of cognition, communication and self-care.

The most common barriers to accessing assistive products are their high cost and low availability. Many users have to pay out of their own pockets. These are people who are already struggling.

Assistive technology can improve lives and livelihoods. Without it, people are often thrust into poverty and dependency.

We call on governments, donors, and civil society to fund and prioritise these neglected but critical products, as part of every country's journey towards universal health coverage.

WHO is committed to working with all of you to help make these products affordable and accessible, so that those who need them can live healthy and independent lives.

I thank the Government of Norway, UK Aid through the Global Disability Innovation Hub and ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, for their support for this report.

And I thank my sister Catherine Russell and our colleagues at UNICEF for their ongoing partnership.

It's my honour to be with Catherine today to launch this Global Report on Assistive Technology, and to be joined by His Excellency Prime Minister Micheál Martin, and also Nujeen, and also with Minister Rabitte.

Thank you so much.

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