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WHO has published advice on COVID-19 which is regularly updated, based on new scientific findings as the epidemic evolves. There are additional considerations for different population groups, including people who use Assistive Technology (AT), such as people with disability, older people and people with chronic health conditions. GATE has shortlisted the following top eight AT-related recommendations during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, some recently published resources are listed at the end of this article.
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For people who use any kind of assistive products:
- As well as washing hands frequently, thoroughly wash any assistive products that you use.
- Make sure everybody in your household knows what they should do: (a) should you contract COVID-19 and require assistance, or (b) should a household member contract COVID-19 and therefore need to identify alternative support arrangements for you.
- Stock some spares/accessories and in case of assistive product failure, whom to contact to get the product fixed.
For caregivers or personal assistants who provide support/care to people who use AT:
- Ensure that public health information is communicated with people you support, especially for people with cognitive or communication impairments.
- Take all the necessary precautions, including frequent hand washing and/or wearing of personal protective equipment, while providing direct support/care.
For service providers:
- Ensure people who use AT have the same quality of healthcare services for COVID19 – ‘Zero Discrimination’.
- Ensure continuity of healthcare services, especially rehabilitation and assistive care services, by mobile phone or video consultation as far as possible and including home delivery of essential assistive products and spare parts (new or repaired).
- Provide additional targeted information on COVID-19 in accessible format to people who use AT and their caregivers/support networks (see examples below).
International Disability Alliance: recommendations for disability-inclusive Covid-19 response
WHO: Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak
COVID-19: How to include marginalized and vulnerable people in risk communication and community engagement
WHO: Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak
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Under the leadership of the Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO has recently completed the most wide-ranging reforms in the Organization’s history. These reforms, aligned with the wider United Nations reform agenda, aim to boost impact in countries and to ensure WHO better meets the needs of its Member States. The WHO Strategy for 2019–2023, the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, reflects these reforms and sets objectives and targets to make a measurable difference in people’s health at country level.
As a direct result, and to better deliver the General Programme of Work and its objectives, the Assistive Technology team has been established, within the Assistive Technology and Medical Devices Unit, in the Access to Medicines and Health Products Division. This change has been pivotal to set AT as a key programmatic area within WHO, to support countries in implementing AT programmes, and to further mainstream AT within countries’ public health agenda - alongside medicines, vaccines and other essential health products.
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Stakeholders meeting in Bahrain. Ten persons, eight men and two women, wearing traditional dress, discuss the findings from the assistive technology assessment. Photo credit: WHO EMRO/ Dr Rehab and David Banes.
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Over the past 8 months, WHO HQ, regional, and country offices, Global Disability Innovation Hub, University College London, and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) have been busy implementing an AT capacity assessment (ATA-C) in 10 countries across 3 regions. At the end of each capacity assessment, teams convened diverse AT stakeholders together, often for the first time, to discuss assessment findings and strategic actions to improve access. This has led to a substantial increase in awareness and political will to address challenges faced in the AT sector. Tangible next steps have also been identified, such as allocating resources for AT for the first time in national budget, developing a National Priority Assistive Products List, prioritizing the inclusion of AT in national health insurance reform, and many more.
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A boy in Mozambique using an inappropriate wheelchair that is too big for him, in an environment that is not accessible. Another boy is pushing the wheelchair. Photo credit: Humanity and Inclusion-UNICEF/Amminadab Jean
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The Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW), co-chaired by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is a forum for humanitarian networks and partnerships to meet and address key humanitarian issues. Every year, the HNPW gathers participants from the UN, NGOs, Member States, the private sector, the military, academia and beyond to discuss and solve common challenges in humanitarian affairs. For the first time, access to AT in humanitarian crisis has been on the agenda. Representatives from WHO, UNICEF and ICRC organized a technical briefing to discuss current challenges, initiatives and next steps to include quality and affordable products in emergency preparedness and response and improve the quality of life of millions of people affected by humanitarian crisis. The slides used during the session can be found here.
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During the week, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee launched the Guidelines for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The guidelines set out essential actions that humanitarian actors must take in order to effectively identify and respond to the needs and rights of persons with disability, older people and those affected by non-communicable diseases who are most at risk of being left behind in humanitarian settings.
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WHO has begun work on the development of a new digital tool – a machine reasoning system - which will help to identify the assistive product a person may need, based on their needs, circumstances, type of impairment, level of ability and environment. This tool will be freely available as a resource for any person who may need an assistive product, as well as for service providers. It will support the provision of assistive products by non-specialist workforce and more accurate data collection on AT needs at a population level. Initially knowledge will be fed into the reasoning system by experts from around the world, using practice-based evidence. The system will include a continuous machine-learning process to be able to self-increase its reliability as more and more experts add their contributions over time. The tool is being developed in collaboration with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University College London and with funding from the Norwegian government.
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The resolution WHA71.8 - Improving access to assistive technology calls upon WHO to prepare a Global Report on Assistive Technology by 2021. Objectives of this Global Report, co-developed by WHO and UNICEF, include highlighting the current need, demand and supply of assistive technology, as well as outlining good practices for innovation and recommendations to improve access. Ms Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO’s Deputy Director General (DDG), has formally requested the support of all WHO Regional Offices to support with data collection on need, demand and barriers to access assistive technology, using WHO’s population-based household survey – rapid Assistive Technology Assessment (rATA).
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 Regional Advisers at WHO headquarters discussing data collection processes for the Global Report. Photo credit: AT/GATE Team
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The request asks Regional Offices to identify up to 6 countries in their region to participate in a global data collection exercise which will take place between late 2020 and early 2021. This is being made possible thanks to funding from UKAID, USAID and the Government of Norway.
To operationalize the DDG’s request, the GATE team is collaborating closely with teams in the WHO regional and country offices. WHO will host a 3-day master-training workshop for national survey coordinators from all participating countries in June 2020 (travel restrictions allowing). This data can inform the global AT sector and in many countries, will be the first step towards developing actionable plans for improving access to AT.
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Equipping, enabling and empowering |
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