The corporate sector has been urged to participate in helping physically challenged people to upgrade existing or establishing artificial limb fitting centres.
Dr Bakht Sarwar, managing director, Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences (Pipos), Peshawar, stated this at 'The Karachi Initiative', a meeting of stakeholders of prosthetic and orthotic support system, jointly organised by The Rotary Clubs of Karachi and Pakistan's Health Policy Forum here on Saturday.
Dr Sarwar said that a comprehensive support system needed for prosthetic and orthotic services with training and capacity building of human resources in Pakistan's largest city. He said that the country needed about 800,000 artificial limbs while 80,000 required only in Karachi.
He informed that thousands of earthquake victims from NWFP and Azad Kashmir were in need of professional help near their homes but no one was available. "Pipos was established under bilateral assistance co-operation programme between Pakistan and Germany," he said.
The Institute maintained a model production centre providing assessment and rehabilitation services to more than 1,500 disabled patients annually, said Dr Sarwar. The Pipos MD also informed the four-year BSc programme in prosthetic and orthotic services. He also discussed the existing rehabilitation institutes in Karachi, which can easily upgrade their facilities to the required level to be certified by ISPO.
Speakers from different Rotary clubs announced their support in Pipos Karachi initiatives. They said the Rotary International is a global partner of WHO, Unicef, CDC Atlanta and the national governments in polio eradication programmes. As a major donor, it has committed $650 million to date. The unfortunate ones who are afflicted with polio may need corrective surgery and orthotic rehab services.
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