Consolidated Statements on Rehabilitation to the WHO

During the World Health Organization (WHO) EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING 24– 29 January 2022, ISPRM joined a coalition of rehabilitation-focused organisations & networks to deliver the statements below.

????View recordings here*: https://www.who.int/about/governance/executive-board/executive-board-150th-session

*The relevant recording is EB150- Session 7 (26/01/2022). Statements were delivered around 01:06:00 and 04:47:00 of the recording.

Statement to agenda item 15.1 ‘Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies’ *

Rehabilitation is a key health strategy that optimizes functioning and quality of life in individuals with health conditions, in interaction with their environment.
Rehabilitation has demonstrated its relevance in health emergencies, including those associated with infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19, in the acute and sub-acute phases, as well as for long-term conditions. More than half of the 236 million people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 do or will experience post-COVID symptoms. Most of them will need rehabilitation to facilitate long-term recovery.

(…) This pandemic will not be the last. Currently, there is a window of opportunity for policy makers to integrate rehabilitation as an essential component of pandemic preparedness and response.

READ FULL STATEMENT: Statement Rehab&COVID EB Meeting Jan 2022 21012022

*Submitted on behalf of the Handicap International Federation, International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, World Confederation for Physical Therapy, World Federation of Occupational Therapists, International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, World Federation of Chiropractic, International Spinal Cord Society, supported by the Global Rehabilitation Alliance and G-Musc.

Statement to agenda item 7. ‘Political declaration of the third high- level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases’ **

Rehabilitation is necessary to reduce the consequences of NCDs, shorten hospital length of stay, improve functioning, slow or stop deterioration in health, and improve quality of life, including for persons with disabilities with different health conditions.
Globally, 2.4 billion people would benefit from rehabilitation. The prevalence of NCDs greatly contributes to this figure: in 2010, 50% of disability-adjusted life years were attributable to NCDs, in low and middle-income countries.
However, rehabilitation is not prioritized in health systems, is under-resourced, and remains inaccessible or unaffordable for most people.

READ FULL STATEMENT: Statement RehabNCDs EB Meeting 2022 21012022

**Submitted on behalf of Handicap International Federation, International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, World Federation of Chiropractic, International Spinal Cord Society, World Confederation for Physical Therapy, World Federation of Occupational Therapists, supported by the Global Rehabilitation Alliance, Light for the World and G-Musc.