Geneva, Switzerland – The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its comprehensive Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities, detailing severe and pervasive health inequalities that affect an estimated 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population. The report confirms that persons with disabilities continue to die earlier, experience poorer health outcomes, and face systemic barriers within the health sector itself.
A stark finding highlights the access gap: persons with disabilities are seven times more likely to report a lack of access to healthcare when they need it, compared to those without disabilities. These poor health outcomes are a direct result of unfair conditions across all facets of life, including discrimination, poverty, and systemic failures to provide inclusive services.
To address these inequities, the WHO report calls for 40 specific, evidence-based actions that governments and health partners can implement. These recommendations center on three main pillars:
Centering health equity for persons with disabilities in all health sector actions.
Empowering and including persons with disabilities in the planning and delivery of health services.
Monitoring outcomes and progress to ensure accountability.
The report emphasizes that achieving global health goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, is impossible without ensuring the right to the highest attainable standard of health for every person with a disability.