Assistive product specifications and how to use them

This document was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to guide the procurement of assistive products, and is part of AT2030 work on Opening Up Market Access, in our Country Implementation cluster. It is intended primarily for procurement teams working in less-resourced settings. It should be read alongside the WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) publication "A manual for public procurement of assistive products, accessories, spare parts and related services", which sets out the procurement process in detail, including key steps and good practice. These two publications come in response to the 2018 World Health Assembly resolution WHA71.8 on improving access to assistive technology. This resolution requests WHO to provide the Member States with technical and capacity-building support for procurement of good-quality and affordable assistive products.

This document includes 26 assistive product specifications (APS). The assistive products have been chosen from the WHO Priority Assistive Products List (WHO APL) published in 2016 as a model list to guide countries when making decisions related to assistive product procurement and provision. The APS addresses six key areas of functional difficulties, with products to assist mobility, hearing, vision, cognition, communication, and self-care. The APS describes the minimum requirements related to technical performance and function that the products should meet for safe and effective use.