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The case for investing in assistive technology

ATscale
November 2020

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In this new report, ATscale describes the enormous gains that access to assistive technology (AT) can have in health, for the community and the economy. The figures are dramatic: investment in the provision of four assistive products - hearing aids, prostheses, eyeglasses, and wheelchairs - will result in a return on investment of 9:1.

Having access to AT can make the difference between failure or success in school, between a job or unemployment, between a life of opportunity or a life of dependency. An example: for a child in a low- or middle-income country, access to AT can make a difference of $100,000 in lifetime income.

Altogether, providing AT to all who need it would yield more than USD 10 trillion in economic benefits over the next 55 years.

Investing in AT both has a transformative impact on people’s wellbeing and makes sound economic sense for funders and governments. 

Product Narrative: Digital Assistive Technology. A market landscape and strategic approach to increasing access to digital assistive technology in low- and middle- income countries

SAVAGE, Margaret
LIAO, Cynthia
CHAUDRON, Matilde
BOYER, Jeffrey
BHATNAGAR, Tigmanshu
LAURENTIUS, Dennis
TORRENS, George
PERRY, Katherine
MORJARIA, Priya
BARAJAS, Felipe Ramos
GOEDDE, Barbara
November 2020

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This document is the final in a series of in-depth analyses that identify key barriers and promising market interventions. The previous four documents focused on wheelchairs, hearings aids, prostheses, and eyeglasses.

The report provides market landscapes of 3 areas of digital AT: mobile phones; screen readers; and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

A common set of recommendations focused on improving access emerged from the individual product landscapes:

  • Develop and adopt policies, including legislation, regulations, minimum product standards, and guidelines to support accessibility and uptake of digital AT at the global and country levels.
  • Support governments of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to increase awareness of digital AT by including digital assistive products such as smartphones and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices on national assistive product lists.
  • Support innovative financing schemes or negotiate pricing agreements to reduce the cost of digital AT to end users.
  • Increase availability of training programmes for users, suppliers, and service providers on the availability of digital AT and digital literacy skills.

Product Narrative: Eyeglasses. A market landscape and strategic approach to increasing access to eyeglasses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

CHAUDRON, Mathilde
SAVAGE, Margaret
et al
July 2020

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Increasing access to eyeglasses to eliminate the burden of uncorrected refractive errors in LMICs will require a multisectoral approach that brings together the public and the private sector, multilateral organisations, and donors. This will require an approach that increases demand for eyeglasses, raises the number of access points for screening and provision, and accelerates the availability of affordable products. To achieve this, we propose five strategic objectives that can strengthen the market in both the short and longer term.

Product Narrative: Prostheses. A market landscape and strategic approach to increasing access to prosthetic devices and related services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

LIAO, Cynthia
SEGHERS, Frederick
SAVAGE, Margaret
FINEBERG, Alison
AUSTIN, Vicki
HOLLOWAY, Catherine
OLDFREY, Ben
April 2020

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While about 1.5 million people undergo amputations every year, WHO estimates that only 5-15% of amputees who need prosthetic devices in LMICs have access to them. High prices of prosthetic services in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs), combined with high indirect costs for users (for example to travel to service points), make prosthetic services unaffordable to many of the people who need them. 

Prosthetic services can be made more affordable by: 1) increasing the number of service units (in particular, by leveraging decentralised service models and the innovative technologies that enable them); 2) establishing reimbursement schemes that encapsulate all costs to the user; and 3) leveraging alternative forms of financing for both capacity-building and user financing.

An opportunity exists to transform access to prosthetic services and products in LMICs, but this will require a coordinated effort between: 1) governments to expand service capacity; 2) global stakeholders to provide guidance on products and technologies; 3) suppliers to expand market presence and offerings; and 4) donors to support these activities. 

Five strategic objectives are proposed to accelerate access to prosthetic services in LMIC

Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action

UNICEF
July 2017

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"The purpose of Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action is to strengthen the inclusion of children and women with disabilities, and their families, in emergency preparedness, response and early recovery, and recovery and reconstruction. This series of booklets provides insight into the situation of children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts, highlights the ways in which they are excluded from humanitarian action, and offers practical actions and tips to better include children and adolescents with disabilities in all stages of humanitarian action. The booklets were created in response to UNICEF colleagues in the field expressing a need for a practical resource to guide their work. The information and recommendations are based on evidence and good practices gathered from literature and field staff experiences. The six booklets on how to include children and adolescents with disabilities in humanitarian programmes are as follows: 1) general guidance; 2) child protection; 3) education; 4) health and HIV/AIDS; 5) nutrition; 6) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)".

General guidance available July 2017. Others to follow.

In addition to the PDF versions in English, Arabic and French, the guidance is also available in a range of accessible formats, including EPUB, a Braille-ready file and accessible HTML formats. 

The guidance was developed in collaboration with Handicap International.

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