New prosthetic centre gives children in Basra hope

A newly opened prosthetic unit for children in the southern Iraqi city of Basra is giving youngsters who've become victims of mine accidents and other diseases affecting their mobility a new lease of life. "There are many children in southern Iraq who need paediatric rehabilitation because they do not get sufficient care. There were also those who are born with physical defects but who cannot find a place for treatment," Dr Muslim Abdel Wahab, a rheumatologist at the new Prosthetic Limb Centre in Basra, told IRIN. Just before the return of Iraqi sovereignty on 28 June, the then Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) established a new unit for prosthetics for children as part of a major project to renovate the old Prosthetic Limb Centre, the only facility of its kind in the south. Iraq is severely affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as a result of the recent US-led War, the 1991 Gulf War, the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War and two decades of internal conflict. Landmines and UXOs pose a problem in the north, the most heavily mined area and along the Iran-Iraq border, as well as the central and southern regions of the country. The total number of mines planted in Iraq is not known, according to mine action groups, although work is continuing to clear affected areas. The new children's centre has been equipped with US $90,000 worth of physiotherapy equipment for treating children and adults. At present 40 percent of all patients are children and around 90 percent are male. The centre has two doctors, six physiotherapists and 10 workshop technicians. The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and Save the Children, an international NGO, have donated 200 wheelchairs to the new centre. However, this leaves almost 300 additional patients still needing wheelchairs. Kamal Youssef, director of the new centre, told IRIN that it was opened in 1994 in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Iraqi Health Ministry in order to treat victims of land mines and other disasters. But up until now there had been no special services for children. Wahab added that before the new prosthetic unit opened up last month children were simply lost in the crowd. "In the new unit, we are now able to take care of the children who are victims of land mines, rheumatic conditions or polio." Thousands of people from all over southern Iraq travel to the new centre each month to receive custom-made prosthetic lower limbs and physiotherapy, the doctors say. "A boy in the border town of Kabbas was walking in the field with his sister a few months ago when they accidentally stepped on a land mine. Each lost a leg. Their parents didn't take them to the hospital for three months. Later, they learned about the centre and came here. We made artificial limbs for the kids." Patients often have to travel long distances to get help Wahab said. "So far we have received cases from as far away as al-Samawa governorate and Nasiryah." Youssef explained that the latest hostilities to oust the former regime also left behind many land mines and unexploded cluster bombs that continue to pose a threat to civilians - especially farmers who live in the border areas of Shalamsha close to Iran and of Safwan close to Kuwait. "Moreover, the lack of security has increased crimes so many people have purchased weapons. These in turn create more casualties and so our efforts have increased." Youssef said that the centre had suffered from shortages of supplies and poor facilities for many years. "The challenge now is to introduce upper limb prosthetics and braces for limbs which no longer function." "We continued to offer artificial limbs for the lower parts. In 1997 we attempted to expand our activities by opening a consultants' clinic to treat outpatients suffering from other related conditions." Eventually, doctors say they hope to provide separate male and female facilities, build a small laboratory, and set up X-ray facilities so that patients no longer have to endure the long and sometimes dangerous trip from Basra to Baghdad to receive treatment.