Access to good quality and affordable assistive products has been mandated by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for ten years but still only 10% of people in need of assistive products have access to them today. With global population ageing and a rise in non-communicable diseases, the percentage of people requiring assistive technology will increase significantly. The need is acute everywhere, especially in low-and middle-income countries.
To support countries in their efforts to comply with the CRPD and improve access to assistive technology, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted resolution WHA71.8 at the Seventy-first World Health Assembly in 2018. The resolution calls WHO to provide technical and capacity-building support to countries in the development of national assistive technology policies and programmes, including procurement. Since September 2018, the WHO, in joint collaboration with UNICEF, are leading efforts to open market access within the AT2030 programme funded by UKaid. One of the key efforts is to develop Assistive Product Specification (APS), with the aim of providing technical guidance to procure assistive products, particularly in low-resource settings. The information included should support procurement of appropriate, high quality assistive products that are suitable for primary healthcare and community-based provision in a useful and concise manner. The APS documents should not be biased towards particular product brands or restrict new innovations on the market as technology advances.
With the support of 47 assistive technology experts from 16 countries, APS drafts for 27 products selected from the WHO Priority Assistive Product List (APL) have been developed and reviewed by 44 external experts. The open consultation invites all relevant stakeholders (such as assistive product procurement specialists, product manufacturers and suppliers, service providers, etc.) to provide feedback to the APS drafts – to ensure that all voices are heard.
Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and China Assistive Devices and Technology Center for Persons with Disabilities (CADTC) are supporting WHO throughout this process to ensure comprehensive review and feedback integration.
Action required
Please comment on the 27 APS drafts listed below, using the online form. If you are unable to access the online form, please download and complete the APS Open Consultation Feedback Form word document, and send it through email to: assistivetechnology@who.int with the subject title "APS OC"
We encourage you to circulate this information to relevant stakeholders within your network. The open consultation will be active from November 1st to January 12th 2020. All feedback received before the closing date will be considered for integration into the final APS documents which will be published in 2020.