Governments have been challenged to expand access to affordable assistive technology after the United Nations General Assembly adopted its first resolution dedicated to the issue, recognising its role in healthcare, education, employment and independent living.
Resolution 80/305, adopted in September 2026 without a vote and sponsored by 41 member states, seeks to strengthen access to quality and affordable assistive products as part of universal health coverage and sustainable development.
Assistive technology includes products such as spectacles, hearing aids, wheelchairs and other devices that help people with disabilities and other users participate in society.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF estimate that more than 2.5 billion people globally need one or more assistive products, but nearly one billion lack access. In some low-income settings, services meet as little as three per cent of the need.
The resolution, described by assistive technology partnership ATscale as a historic global milestone, comes amid concerns over high costs, inadequate financing, shortages of trained personnel and limited availability of essential products.
For governments, the challenge is to translate the global commitment into funded programmes, trained personnel, reliable supply chains and services accessible to people in underserved communities.
The scale of the challenge is particularly evident in eye care, where shortages of specialists limit access to basic vision services.
Data from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness indicate that sub-Saharan Africa has a median of only two optometrists per million people, compared with 156 per million in high-income regions.
A regional study covering 21 countries found that the availability of optometrists outside capital cities fell to 0.9 per million people, highlighting the difficulties faced by communities far from major urban centres.
The WHO has recommended training appropriate personnel, including refractionists, to provide vision assessment services, particularly in underserved areas. Such approaches can bring basic eye care closer to communities while maintaining referral pathways for patients requiring specialist attention.
The WHO-UNICEF global assessment also highlights the scale of demand for assistive products. It estimates that 31.3 per cent of the world’s population needs at least one assistive product when spectacles are included, compared with 11.3 per cent when they are excluded.
The figures illustrate the importance of vision care in efforts to expand access to assistive technology, although they do not represent the number of people who need spectacles alone.
In Uganda, Dot Glasses, a social enterprise that promotes affordable eye care, says partnerships with government and frontline health workers can help address barriers caused by cost, distance and shortages of eye care professionals.
The organisation equips primary healthcare workers with tools and training to test vision and dispense affordable spectacles closer to where people live and seek medical services.
“Global commitments matter, but access becomes real only when a person can get the right product, at a price they can afford, close to where they live. That last mile is where policy becomes participation,” said Bradley Heslop and Adam Boxer, co-chief executive officers of Dot Glasses.
The executives commended Uganda’s Ministry of Health for its leadership in making basic eye care more accessible through a memorandum of understanding with the organisation.
They called on governments, health systems, funders, employers and communities to work together to remove barriers to basic eye care.
The call comes as the world marked World Sight Day on October 8 under the “Love Your Eyes” campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of eye health and encourage action to improve access to eye care.
The UN resolution places assistive technology more firmly on the global development agenda, but its impact will depend on how governments incorporate the commitments into national policies, budgets and service delivery.
For millions of people, access to appropriate assistive products can determine whether they remain in school, continue working, move independently or participate fully in their communities.
The resolution therefore shifts the focus from recognising the need for assistive technology to ensuring that affordable products and services reach the people who need them.
