Amputees to receive new lease of life

Accra, June 30, GNA - An American Prosthetics, (limb fabrication organisation), has chosen Ghana as its centre in the West African sub-region to provide free care to thousands of patients in dire need of artificial limb fitting services.

Management of the organisation, Standing With Hope (SWH), which has operated in Ghana for more than five years assisting the Ghana Health Service GHS) with training professionals, made the announcement at a meeting with Vice President John Mahama at the Osu Castle on Monday. The services of prosthetics, which involves the use of artificial limbs (prostheses), has been in high demand due to the high spate of motor and domestic accidents that leave hundreds of Ghanaians physically impaired each year.

According to experts, prosthesis helps to address stability in standing and walking, shock absorption, energy storage and return, cosmetic appearance, and even extraordinary functional needs associated with running, jumping and other athletic activities among accident victims.

Some experts also believe that prostheses might help to address specific occupational challenges such as painting and activities of daily living as well as eating, writing and dressing, which for the moment, are drudgery for many of the victims. In Ghana, many people who have been immobilized by motor crashes and other occurrences end up on the streets, seeking alms for their survival, because they have been rendered redundant without the use of such aids.

Mrs Gracie Rosenbuger, founder of SWH, who is a double amputee, said her organisation would work towards reducing the sufferings of physically impaired persons with the supply of materials with the necessary alignment to match the functional needs of the individual. In addition to providing free services for limb prostheses, the SWH is also providing training to about 15 Ghanaian health workers in both prosthetics and orthotics care.

Orthotics involves creativity in the design and fabrication of external braces (or orthoses) as part of a patient's treatment process. Orthosis, according to sources, act to control weakened or deformed regions of the body of a physically challenged person and may be used on various areas of the body including the limbs, cranium or spine. Common orthotic interventions include spinal orthoses for life-threatening neck injuries and ankle foot orthoses used in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.

Mrs Rosenbuger said a number of her compatriots were willing to come to Ghana to assist in the process of rehabilitation, adding that it was that enthusiasm being shown by many volunteers that her outfit had decided to make Ghana a hub in the sub-region. Although a fabricated artificial leg costs around 7,000 dollars, Mrs Rosenbuger said the SWH subsidizes the cost thus enabling the GHS to deliver the service free of charge.

The SWH was hopeful that such services would enable Ghanaians who had found themselves in harm's way to return to productive lifestyle rather than becoming a burden to their families and invariably the larger society.

Her husband, Mr Peter Rosenbuger, who is the Chief Executive of the SWH, said their goal was to bring respite to suffering people, but not to make profit.

Vice President Mahama commended the organisation for its yeoman's efforts in helping to rehabilitate amputees in the sub-region and promised the unalloyed support of the government in expanding the services of the SWH. And to demonstrate the seriousness of government to the cause being championed by the SWH, Vice President Mahama said he would soon visit the centre to facilitate work. 30 June 09