Global Disability Innovation Hub partners with WHO to improve access to assistive technology

The Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub), based at the University College London (UCL), UK, is the first organisation to be awarded the status of World Health Organisation (WHO) official collaborating centre on assistive technology (AT).

Led by Professor Cathy Holloway, Academic Director of GDI Hub, the WHO collaborating centre will focus on driving disability innovation that can provide access to assistive and accessible technology for people with disabilities worldwide.

Experts from GDI Hub will support WHO in widening global access to AT, which will be done through improving access to assistive products for humanitarian response, driving advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence and developing and implementing a one-stop shop model of assistive products service provision.

They will also contribute to the 2022 WHO/UNICEF World Report on AT, highlighting the current need, demand and supply of assistive technology, as well as outlining good practices for innovation and recommendations to improve access.

‘Never has there been a more important time to address the needs of disabled and older people, as globally we look to build back fairer from the COVID-19 pandemic,’ says Holloway.

GDI Hub was selected because of its global expertise in AT and its track record of supporting four million people with disabilities in 35 countries over the last two years to access AT.

Holloway adds, ‘Our evidence-led approach founded in research and academic excellence enables GDI Hub to explore global challenges from a new perspective…Building on this knowledge, alongside the expertise of the WHO, there is a significant opportunity to shift global markers and supply systems, improving equitable access to health products through global market shaping.’