ABSTRACT
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are commonly marginalised and affected by systemic discrimination, poorer health status and higher avoidable and premature mortality rates when compared to the rest of the world’s population. In addition to these challenges and some unavoidable health conditions, people with IDD suffer increased exposure to the well-established social determinants of health like “poverty; poor employment conditions; social exclusion; violence; discrimination; and exclusion from health promotion and prevention”. Most of the literature on healthcare and health-related services for people with IDD is from high-income countries (HIC), where it also came up as an afterthought as not much was written before the 21st century. This chapter highlights the status quo when it comes to common health conditions and problems, health inequity and access to healthcare services for people with IDD based on extant literature. The aim is to present an overview of these concepts and their far-reaching consequences and to make suggestions for policy and practice changes necessary to improve access to equitable health for people with IDD, with a particular emphasis on low and low-middle income countries (LMIC).
