Wheelchair Needs In The World

How many people are there in the world?

• There are an estimated 7,400,000,000 people in the world (as of March,2016)
  • Approximately 1,000,000,000 people live in the 34 ‘developed countries’
  • The remaining 6,091,500,000 live in the 156 ‘developing countries’
• There are approximately 340,500 births each day in the world
• Approximately 153,000 people die each day in the world
• Therefore the world population increases by 187,500 every day
  • See www.worldometers.info/world-population

How many people in the world have a physical disability and require a wheelchair?

• In the 34 developed countries it is estimated that 1% or 10,000,000 people require a wheelchair
• In the 156 developing countries it is estimated that at least 2% or 121,800,000 people require a wheelchair
• Overall, of the 7,091,500,000 people in the world, approximately 131,800,000 or 1.85% require a wheelchair

Of the people that have a physical disability, how many have access to a wheelchair?

• In developed countries more than 95% of people who require a wheelchair have access to one
• In developing countries less than 10% of people who require a wheelchair have access to one

So how many people in the world need a wheelchair but don’t have one?

• In the developed countries the number is less than 500,000 (5% of 10 million)
• In the developing countries the number is at least 109,620,000 (90% of 121.8 million)
• The total is just over 110,000,000

How is the need for wheelchairs changing?

• With the world population increasing by 187,500 each day, there is an additional need for almost 3,500 wheelchairs every day (1.85% of the world population)
• That means that every hour of every day, 24 hours a day, there is the need for 145 more wheelchairs in the world

What can we do about the need for wheelchairs in the world?

• Since its inception in 2000, the Wheelchair Foundation based in Danville, CA has distributed more than 1,030,000 wheelchairs in over 155 countries (as of July, 2016).
• Each wheelchair costs $150 to manufacture (in China) and ship to one of the developing countries.
• 280 wheelchairs fit into an ocean freight container so we need to raise $42,000 ($150 x 280) among all the schools.
• The wheelchairs you are raising money for now will be delivered to the people of various countries in some of the poorest people in the developing world.