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Orthopaedic Centre opens for 1,000 disabled

    ABIDJAN
    An orthopaedic centre catering for 1,000 amputees has started producing artificial limbs in Nimba County in north central Liberia, Star Radio reported on Wednesday. The centre is located at the Methodist hospital in Ganta, near the border with Guinea. Its chief medical officer, Dr. Francis Kateh, said the facility was also producing braces free of charge for polio victims. He said 15 amputees had received limbs since the US $1-million centre, sponsored by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and funded by USAID, started operating in December 1999. A UNICEF source in Monrovia, the capital, told IRIN last year that the centre would be available to any disabled person , “regardless of whether they are war amputees”. Kateh also called on the government to reopen the border with Guinea, Star reported. He explained that people in Guinea who needed treatment in Ganta were unable to cross the border, closed as a result of fighting in nearby Lofa County in 1999.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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