- Special Olympics evidence shows that 80% of U.S. medical students received no clinical training to treat people with intellectual disabilities 
- 52% of medical school deans and 56% of students reported that graduates were "not competent" to treat people with intellectual disabilities. 
- According to the World Report on Disability, individuals with disabilities are three times more likely to be denied care and four times more likely to be poorly treated in the healthcare system.

Medical Students Receive Insufficient Training in Caring for Patients With Disabilities.

Health worker training often lacks disability-related skills, information, and sensitivity. For example, a review found that only 8% of Western Pacific countries included disability-related information in healthcare undergraduate training. 

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- Healthcare needs to be more affordable
- Health workers' lack of skill
- Shortage of healthcare specialists
- Limited infrastructure
- Poor management and leadership

Common Barriers for People with Disabilities When Accessing Healthcare


Kuper, H, Heydt, P. (2019). The mission billion: access to health services for 1 billion people with disabilities. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 2019. https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/TheMissingBillion

Access To Health Services For 1 Billion People With Disabilities

Health workers' Lack of Skill

People with disabilities are usually poorer and have higher healthcare costs. The World Report on Disability found that half of people with disabilities cannot afford healthcare, and they are 50% more likely to face really high health costs. Many people with disabilities also find it hard to get to healthcare because transport costs are a big problem.

Healthcare Needs To Be More Affordable

The world is experiencing a severe shortage of rehabilitation workers, such as physical therapists, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and prosthetic and orthotic practitioners. This problem is most severe in lower-income countries. For example, sub-Saharan Africa has only six specialized rehabilitation physicians, and many Southeast Asian countries have fewer than ten physiotherapists per million people.

Shortage of Healthcare Specialists


Healthcare facilities, including buildings, rooms, equipment, and toilets, often have limited physical accessibility. A Florida survey showed that people with disabilities were 5-10 times more likely to encounter physical barriers to access and communication challenges. 

Limited Infrastructure

Many ministries lack a department or staff dedicated to disability or rehabilitation. Twenty percent of WHO’s WPRO region countries had no disability-related capacity within the Ministry of Health.

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