Assistive products and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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COMMENTARY
Open Access
Assistive products and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Emma Tebbutt1, Rebecca Brodmann1, Johan Borg2, Malcolm MacLachlan3,4,5* , Chapal Khasnabis1 and Robert Horvath6
Abstract The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have placed great emphasis on the need for much greater social inclusion, and on making deliberate efforts to reach marginalized groups. People with disabilities are often marginalized through their lack of access to a range of services and opportunities. Assistive products can help people overcome impairments and barriers enabling them to be active, participating and productive members of society. Assistive products are vital for people with disabilities, frailty and chronic illnesses; and for those with mental health problems, and gradual cognitive and physical decline characteristic of aging populations. This paper illustrates how the achievement of each of the 17 SDGs can be facilitated by the use of assistive products. Without promoting the availability of assistive products the SDGs cannot be achieved equitably. We highlight how assistive products can be considered as both a mediator and a moderator of SDG achievement. We also briefly describe how the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) is working to promote greater access to assistive products on a global scale. Keywords: Assistive products, Assistive technology, Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, Limitations, People with disabilities, Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology, GATE
Background The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has a tremendous scope, spanning the three dimensions of economic, social and environmental development. Considered by the United Nations (UN) to be “a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity,” [1] its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will stimulate global action over the next 15 years. The SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and focus on the key gaps in the progress made by the MDGs. At the heart of this is the pledge that “noone will be left behind” and that governments will endeavour to reach “the furthest behind first” [2]. Persons with disabilities and older people, especially women, are among the groups of people who are most likely to remain left behind, despite collectively numbering between one and two * Correspondence: [email protected] 3 Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland 4 Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
billion [3, 4]. They are also the two largest groups of people who need assistive products. Without assistive products people are often excluded and locked into poverty and isolation; also increasing the impact of functional decline, disease and disability on the person, his/her family and on society. Older people are living longer and have the potential to contribute to family and socie
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