A/HRC/36/48 77. Affordability of assistive services and robotics is a key element in ensuring access to such devices. While it is subject to progressive realization, States should include the provision of essential assistive devices and technology in the coverage of national health insurance and/or social protection schemes, on the basis of the World Health Organization priority assistive products list, and should also consider waiving import duties and taxes on assistive devices and technology that are not produced domestically (see A/HRC/34/58, para. 52). 78. The adequacy of support may depend on the “prevailing social, economic, cultural, climatic, ecological and other conditions”.19 Gender, income and housing disparities that impede access to adequate support must also be addressed. 8. The right to health 79. Assistive technology and health robots have great potential to contribute to older persons’ enjoyment of their right to the highest attainable standard of health. Technologies that promote healthy lifestyles can help older persons prevent diseases and maintain their good health. Remote monitoring can reduce the need for acute health care, diagnose early symptoms, facilitate early interventions and reduce the need for face-to-face medical visits, especially for those lacking easy access to health centres. Telehealth solutions or other similar applications can help older persons better manage chronic diseases. Robots can improve the rehabilitation of patients and therefore enhance their functional capacities. Assistive technology can help older persons build or sustain their cognitive and communication skills, and social robots may have benefits for older persons’ mental health. 80. Remote services and assistive devices should, however, complement and not replace conventional care. They should not impede equal access to formal health services, for instance in the form of higher fees for visits of medical professionals or as a result of lack of insurance coverage for such health services. Health resource allocation should not favour expensive technological solutions targeting a small, privileged fraction of the population over other services that can help larger parts of the population. 81. An integrated approach to assistive technology encompasses prevention, cure, disease management, rehabilitation and palliative care. As the right to health is heavily dependent upon the realization of other rights and upon equal access to underlying determinants of health, such as adequate housing and food, a comprehensive response, beyond the use of assistive technology and robots, is necessary. A life-cycle approach to the right to health should involve age-appropriate technologies and should extend to the care for chronically and terminally ill persons. 9. Protection from abuse, maltreatment and violence 82. Insofar as assistive technology and robotics may improve the quality of support and fill existing gaps in the provision of care, it can contribute to prevent instances of elder abuse and violence against older persons. Professional care workers are in such high demand that the inadequacy of their qualifications and training are often overlooked. Informal caregivers might be inadequately equipped to care for their loved ones. Effectively designed robots could help meet this demand in a safer and more responsible, sustainable manner. This may effectively lead to a reduction in instances of abuse, maltreatment and violence against older persons in home-care and institutional settings. 83. Monitoring technology may deter abuse and neglect, and allow for their detection, since day-to-day monitoring provides insights into older persons’ physiological health, activity levels and interaction with others. It must not, however, be used as a tool to monitor the actions of health workers, which would be in violation of employees’ right to privacy at work. 84. Overreliance on technology may turn into a form of neglect of older persons as caregivers withdraw and the frequency and quality of interaction reduces. In the case of 19 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 12 on the right to adequate food, para. 7. 15