Healing miseries: Turning tears of pain into tears of joy

The centre provides free treatment to victims of terrorism, accidents.

PESHAWAR:

Sitting in a wheelchair with amputated legs is 40-year-old Ayub, a resident of Parachinar in Khurram Agency who lost his legs in a bomb blast. However, he does not seem dejected and appears hopeful that he will be able to overcome his disability and he will soon be able to walk on his own using artificial legs.

Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences (PIPOS) has hundreds of success stories where handicapped people have totally recovered after receiving prosthesis (artificial limb) or orthotics (support to parts of body) treatment at PIPOS.

Rahim Khan, a resident of Karachi who lost his right leg in a terrorist attack, can also be seen walking at the exercise room.

“When I lost my leg I felt my life was over and I would never be able to walk on my own but now it seems as if I never lost my leg at all. It is such a great relief that I can walk again,” said Khan.

Similarly, Faisal Wahab, a teenager from Shabqadar village who also lost his leg in an accident, is also walking on his own after getting an artificial leg.

“I went through a lot of psychological and emotional stress when I lost my leg but after getting prosthesis at PIPOS, life has returned to the way it was before the accident,” he remarked.

PIPOS is the only institute of its kind in Pakistan which provides free treatment to victims of terrorism, accidents, diseases and natural disasters.

Established in 1981 in Peshawar with the support of the German government, the institute provided treatment to victims of Afghan war. However, after the devastating earthquake of 2005 and a spate of insurgency in tribal areas, the institute expanded its services by establishing satellite service centres and mobile units in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

According to PIPOS Rehabilitation Manager Zia Khan, there are around 820,000 disabled persons in Pakistan, who need prosthesis and orthosis treatment. He said these figures were based on a survey held in 2005, adding that the number of patients have increased considerably since then due to rise in incidence of terrorism.

“Each year around 2,000 patients are given artificial limbs and support and the number of patients in out waiting list is increasing with each passing day as it takes around 15 days to prepare an artificial leg,” Zia explained.

“These limbs are provided free of charge to patients and the expenditure is borne by the International Committee of the Red Cross,” he added.

“Today, the institute awards undergraduate degrees in prosthetics and orthotics from the University of Peshawar and to maintain the standard of education and training, PIPOS is accredited with the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics in Belgium and has been awarded a Category-II accreditation,” said PIPOS Managing Director Liaqat Ali Malik.

“Each year, 12 students are trained in prosthetics and orthotics and about 70 per cent of our graduates are serving at reputed institutions in Pakistan and other countries,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2011.