A prosthetics and orthotics center opened in Trincomalee General Hospital, Sri Lanka, earlier this month and is slated to begin offering services to patients in July. Between 400-500 prostheses and orthoses are expected to be provided to the disabled population at the center each year, according to a Sri Lanka School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (SLSPO), Ragama, press release.
“As a representative of the Ministry of Health, Colombo, I am pleased to have been involved in the planning of this project,” Anil Dissanayake, MD, the director of the Department for Youth, Elderly, Disabled, and Displaced (YEDD), said. “The first step for many people with disabilities to become contributing members of society is access to professional prosthetics and orthotics services. This center will improve the lives of hundreds of persons with disabilities in Trincomalee. A similar center, which opened in Vavuniya in November 2010, has already provided more than 100 prostheses and orthoses to persons with disabilities.”
Technical support, staff training, and mentoring will be provided by the Cambodia Trust through the SLSPO.
“SLSPO is training prosthetists/orthotists to international standards, to meet the needs of mobility-impaired people in Sri Lanka,” Mary Scott, MD, project director of SLSPO, said. “We are proud to assist professional capacity building in Sri Lanka so these services can be delivered by Sri Lankan graduates.”
The center hopes to have two O&P practitioners working at the center from the June 2011 graduating class of the SLSPO.
