Thai offers prosthesis making training

After India’s ‘Jaipur Foot’, now Thailand’s renowned artificial limb making centre has come forward to help Bangladesh train up its manpower to make quality and durable prosthesis.

Deputy Secretary General of the Thailand’s Prosthesis Foundation of H.R.H the Princess Mother Dr Vajara Rujiwetpongstora told bdnews24.com that they would help in human resource development so that “Bangladesh does not need foreign help (for artificial limbs) in future”.

The Thai Foundation is working at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) with its mobile limb making factory to help those maimed in Savar disaster.

The worst-ever factory building collapse in Savar in April this year killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garment workers. Of the survivors, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 25 needed limbs.

Most of them found artificial limbs as supports from home and abroad poured in.

The Thai centre, which made its offer soon after the building collapse, found only five Savar victims. But they are providing artificial limbs to more than 100 poor who needed it.

Dr Rujiwetpongstora said they made the technology ‘very simple’. “It’s very easy, fast, cost-saving and environment friendly technology,” he said and that they needed only four days to make more than 100 limbs in Dhaka.

“We encourage for training and human resource development so that you can do it by yourselves, no need to bring mobile clinics from other countries,” he said.

Dr Jahangir Alam of NITOR, commonly known as Pangu Hospital, said they lack trained manpower to make artificial limbs, demand of which is never-ending in Bangladesh with frequent factory accidents and road mishaps.

No official figure of how many artificial limbs Bangladesh needs a year is however available.

Kazi Mohammad Asadullah in his 50s said on Wednesday that he had never been so happy in the last 23 years as of today.

He lost his right leg while working in a textile mill on September 23, 1990. After 23 years on the same day, he was trying to walk with two legs, one artificial at the hospital corridor where the Thai team was working.

“I am poor. I had no money to get an artificial limb,” he told bdnews24.com, adding, he did not miss the opportunity when he heard that a Thai team would come to Dhaka to help people like him.

He is waiting for Saturday when he will finally get his limb.

Dr Alam of NITOR said all would get their limbs fitted formally on Saturday.

The Savar building collapse shook the burgeoning garment industry with major export market US seized GSP privilege for some other Bangladesh’s products and other buyers set roadmap to address factory safety issues.

NITOR is going to be equipped with the artificial limb technology and manpower that it could not develop in its more than 40 years of existence.

The India’s Jaipur Foot, which is famed for its home-grown technology, offered to make a ‘full-fledged’ factory in NITOR. Jaipur Foot became well known after a classical dancer danced with her artificial limb in a film

Their team assessed the need in July and would return to the country shortly.

Dr Alam said they would also fit 500 artificial limbs using which one can sit, walk, run, climb, pedal cycles or even swim.

Thai Foundation’s Deputy Secretary General Dr Rujiwetpongstora, however, said all fitted with artificial limbs would need follow-up that Bangladeshi doctors have to ensure.

Srinagarindra, the Thai Princess Mother founded the prosthesis foundation in 1992 when she had learned that one of the Thai doctors’ can make light and comfortable prostheses from recycled plastic which cost 10 times lower than those imported version.

Her vision was to help those needed with the artificial limbs regardless of their nationality and religion.