A/70/297 health services owing to the additional costs incurred because of disability, while they also face significant barriers to accessing health care, such as non -affordable or inadequate health services, discrimination in public and private health insurance, and insufficient insurance coverage. Catastrophically high health expenditures are preponderant among persons with disabilities, across all gender and age groups. 32 Consequently, the burden of disability-related extra costs can easily nullify the enjoyment of other human rights, including living independently and with freedom of choice in any given society. 33. States should therefore provide social protection programmes that cover disability-related expenditures, 33 to prevent a significant deterioration of standard of living and to prevent poverty. While evidence suggests that social benefits contribute positively to reducing the at-risk-of-poverty rates for persons with disabilities, 34 in practice very few States have established flexible systems that cover disability-related costs. In most cases, benefits are static, provided in fixed lump sums without account being taken of the individual’s particular situation and needs. C. Life cycle approach 34. Social protection systems and programmes can only be effective if they address the specific needs of persons with disabilities throughout their life cycle: childhood, adolescence, working age and old age. This approach is aimed at removing existing barriers to accessing age-based benefits and at creating uninterrupted interventions and a smooth transition from one age group to another with regard to the receipt of benefits. 35. States should prioritize social protection policies to ensure the well-being of children and adolescents with disabilities and their families; to enable them to realize their full potential through inclusive and adequate services and support measures (especially in the education and health sectors); and to combat poverty. In effect, families with children with disabilities are disproportionately more likely to fall below the poverty line, 35 as disability in childhood is often the catalyst for poverty owing to disability-related extra costs, family break-ups and unemployment following the onset of disability. 36 Poverty, in turn, remains the main cause of malnutrition, school dropout, abandonment and institutionalization of children with disabilities. 37 States should adopt inclusive and barrier-free social protection systems as they can have a life-changing impact on children and adolescents with disabilities. __________________ 32 33 34 35 36 37 12/25 WHO and World Bank, see note 16. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has established that support to persons with disabilities should be provided in a dignified manner and reflect the specific disability related needs and expenses. See general comment No. 19, para. 20. Eurostat, “Disability statistics: poverty and income inequalities”, available from http://ec.europa. eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Disability_statistics_-_poverty_and_income_ inequalities. UNICEF, see note 23. Council for Disabled Children, “Disabled children and child poverty”, briefing paper for the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, 2007. UNICEF; WHO and UNICEF, Early Childhood Development and Disability: A Discussion Paper (WHO, 2012). 15-12544