DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 25, 2013) – Patients of Davao Jubilee Foundation, including those with physical disabilities resulting from armed violence, are benefiting from a newly-built physiotherapy clinic which was supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The ICRC said the newly-inaugurated facility has individual treatment rooms and gait training area for patients who need to undergo post-prosthetic exercise or to recover from nervous system injuries. It can accommodate about 30 patients availing of physical therapy every month.
“The new facility will help patients to confidently recover and function to their full potential, so they can regain their independence and dignity,” Catherine Fry, ICRC health delegate in Mindanao, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
She said the physiotherapy clinic will strengthen the capability of the physical rehabilitation center.
DJF is a non-profit organization that provides physical rehabilitation services to amputees and other people with disabilities. It mainly caters to people from Mindanao, a region affected by conflict and insecurity. The ICRC has been referring war-wounded patients to the foundation since 2000.
Last year, the ICRC supported the upgrade of DJF’s workshop as it shifted to polypropylene technology, which produces prosthetic and orthotic devices more quickly and that are more durable and easier to maintain. In 2011, a gait training area where patients could practice using their new prostheses was built with ICRC assistance.
In the first quarter of 2013, more than 160 patients received services in this center while 41 polypropylene prostheses have been delivered to the amputees. One of the technicians is studying in a recognized school of prosthesis in Cambodia with a full sponsorship from the ICRC.
The ICRC is a neutral and impartial humanitarian organization that assists and protects victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. This year, it continues its assistance to weapon-wounded persons by propositioning medical materials in 17 hospitals in conflict-prone areas of Mindanao. The organization also covers the medical costs of some vulnerable/indigent patients injured due to armed violence.
The ICRC also works with jail authorities to improve the delivery of health care services within detention facilities and strengthen the links with referral civilian health facilities.
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