Rehabilitation is described as a set of measures to optimise the functioning of individuals, and is important for wellbeing, participation and quality of life. Rehabilitation includes diagnosis, treatments, surgeries, assistive devices and therapies. Not all people who need rehabilitation are people with disabilities, and not all people with disabilities need rehabilitation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently estimated that 1 in 3 people globally (2.41 billion people) would benefit from rehabilitation: this number has increased nearly two thirds since 1990, due to population growth and increase in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). In contrast, there are estimated to be less than 10 skilled rehabilitation practitioners per million population in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), and only 5 – 15% of people in need of assistive devices are thought to have received them.
An Assistive Technology Capacity Assessment (ATA-C) survey in Mongolia in 2019. This survey was the first step in the effort to improve and strengthen the Assistive Technology (AT) services in the country, as part of the action following the resolution 71.8 of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2018. WHO’s ATA-C survey has 4 questionnaires, these were translated and field tested in Mongolia. In collaboration with Tegsh Niigem, a Mongolian NGO, the major stakeholders involved in policy, acquisition, procurement, production and distribution of assistive products in the country were interviewed and compiled the WHO questionnaires. All together 47 persons were interviewed. This report presents the key findings from this survey.