Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities

Economic and Social CouncilWorld Health Organization

TopicHealth Equity for Persons with Disabilities

Equity, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is “the absence of unfair, avoidable, or remediable differences among groups of people”. Today more than 1.3 billion people live with a disability. Sadly, many individuals with disabilities face additional barriers to equity, specifically in the health sector. These individuals are disenfranchised not just due to the differences in their bodies and minds, but the corresponding impediments they must overcome simply to exist in today’s modern societies. This disparity, both its existence, and the ways in which member states wish to handle it, is the primary discussion point for this topic and how it relates to health care access.

Challenges to health equity faced by persons with disabilities are far-reaching and include factors like lack of transportation, stigmatization, financial burdens, and physical inaccessibility. Delegates should familiarize themselves with existing initiatives such as the WHO Disability Health Equity Initiative, which aims to combat healthcare inequity in four strategic areas of engagement. United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals 3, 10, 11, and 17 should also serve as relevant guideposts for any solution to be successful long-term.

The UN defines disability as “long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder…full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” It is important to keep in mind how different types of disability might also impact solutions to this issue, and these factors may require similar yet different solutions. As recently as May 2025 the WHO published in their “World report on social determinants of health equity” that progress has been insufficient regarding resource distribution to those in underserviced populations, including persons with disabilities, and outlines a number of points that require further progress and attention from nations before global progress meets its standards.

As the WHO, your goal is to find ways to remove barriers for individuals with disabilities to seek and obtain health resources. Consider how this can be done both on a local and international scale. While other factors such as gender inequality, rural and urban differences, and poverty levels may impact this topic, it is important that we look specifically at how disability, in all of its forms, affects health equity.

Useful Links:

WHO Global Report health equity for persons with disabilities
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240063600

WHO Disability Health Equity Initiative
https://www.who.int/initiatives/disability-health-equity-initiative

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
https://sdgs.un.org/goals

WHO World report on social determinants of health equity, 2025
https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/equity-and-health/world-report-on-social-determinants-of-health-equity

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