Challenges for Differently Abled to Access Quality and Affordable Healthcar

Available evidence indicates that, in many contexts, persons with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty1 than persons without disabilities. In a separate study, in 18 of 21 countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), working-age people with disabilities showed higher poverty rates (defined as less than 60 per cent of the median-adjusted disposable income) than those without disabilities.

More than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, of whom nearly 200 million experience considerable difficulties in functioning. In the years ahead, disability will be an even greater concern because its prevalence is on the rise. This is due to ageing populations and the higher risk of disability in older people as well as the global increase in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders. 3

According to the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF), the population with disabilities reached 85 million in 2010, counting 6.34% of the total. The disabling barriers including poorer health outcome, lower educational achievements, less economic participation, higher rates of poverty, increased dependency and restricted participation, populations with disabilities are lacking in high quality healthcare and the relevant financial protection.

We are inviting Yibao (“益宝”), a social enterprise rooted in China, to share their exciting journey of building financial protections for the populations with disabilities, including the online platform for the specific financial products, their on-ground financial education courses with social workers and local communities, as well as a professional database that in the future would support the product innovation. They also completed a Report on the Assessment of Disability Accessibility of Commercial Insurance early this year. 

Programme:

ACCESS Health China team: the problem to be solved: the health and medical access challenges faced by the disabled in China - 5 minutes

Yibao: the current situation of China’s financial security for the disabled, and our platform and solutions - 25 minutes

Yibao/ ACCESS Health China team: share the insight of the research report - 5 minutes

Q&A: 10 minutes

Speakers:

Mr. ZHOU Ling, CEO, Yibao

Mr. ZHAO Yun, Partner, Yibao

Dr. Chang Liu, Regional Director, ACCESS Health International

Moderator:

Dr. Monica Mittal, Innovation Lead, ACCESS Health International