Helping hands: Rehabs to be set up in all Punjab districts

Nine centres to be set up in first phase

LAHORE: “Rehabilitation centres will be established in all districts in the province,” Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Thursday.

“As a pilot project, nine centres will be set up at divisional headquarters,” Rafique said during a meeting with International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) Physical Rehabilitation Programme Manager Carlos Delgado.

Health Secretary Jawad Rafique, Health Additional Secretary (Technical) Salman Shahid and ICRC representative Bukht Sarwar attended the meeting.

Sarwar the ICRC was already running a rehabilitation centre in Muzaffargarh.

He said earthquakes and terrorist activities in the country had rendered a large number of people disabled. He said approximately 500,000 people needed supportive instruments.

Rafique stressed the need for collecting data on the disabled so that appropriate steps could be taken for their rehabilitation. He said that apart from providing infrastructure and financial resources, provision of trained human resource was a big challenge. He said the government would provide financial resources to set up rehabilitation centres. He said that management committees should be formed to operate the facilities.

The ICRC representatives said the organisation was ready to provide for the running cost of the centers for up to five years. The meeting decided that in the first phase, nine rehab centres would be set up. Out of these, the ICRC will establish six centres and the government three.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2015.