SYLLABUS SECTION: GS II (Social Issues, Vulnerable Groups)
Why in News?
Recently, World Health Organization and UNICEF have the released Global Report on Assistive Technology. | UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS.
Key Findings:
- Assistive products like wheelchairs, hearing aids, or communication apps are a need of 2.5 billion people in this world.
- It helps to improve the life quality of people.
- There are many needy people from low and middle-income countries who don’t get access to these products.
- In low and middle-income countries, access can be as low as 3% of the need for these lifechanging products.
- The number of people in need of one or more assistive products is likely to rise to 3.5 billion by 2050.
- Population aging and the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases rising across the world are the main reasons.
- Affordability is a major barrier to access.
- There is a large gap in the domains of cognition, communication, and self-care in service provision and trained workforce.
India and Differently Abled:
- According to the 2011 Census, the number of people with disabilities is 2.21% of the total population (26.8 million persons), including persons with visual, hearing, speech, locomotor, and mental disabilities with the majority in the 1959 age group.
- In rural areas, there live 75% of people with disabilities, who are 49% literate, and 34% employed.
- The disabled population is 22.4% out of a population increase of 17.6%.
This current issue can be one of the important issues to be followed for the UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS preparation.
You can use this data to improve your answers and to back your answers through facts for GS Mains answer writing and Essay. This is an important current issue for both Prelims and Mains Examination. The data related to this article is good to use while writing the answers to GS Paper I & III.
Source: The Hindu