Nobel Prize Winning Non-Profit Arrives in Haiti with Prosthetics

posted on Jan 26 by Stacy in the Disability News, Health category

Nobel Peace Prize winning organization Handicap International expects to stay in Haiti for the long haul. The first plane load of short term prostheses has already arrived. They have logged 500 amputees, and based on information received, Handicap International anticipates the number of Haitians who have had to have limbs cut off has exceeded 2000.
The numbers are staggering when you factor in the disproportionate number of amputees as well as those who will be left para and quadriplegic. Right now they are focusing on setting up a facility in Haiti that will produce long term prosthetics, and hope to have it up and running within months. Wendy Batson, executive director of the US branch of Handicap International said: “We’re setting up a database and moving in the medical equipment we need so that as soon as stumps are healed enough after surgery, we can put on DynaCast prosthetics, which last four to six months.” By the time the temporary prosthetics are ready to be replaced, the new production facility will be in place.

About Handicap International: Handicap International was founded in Thailand in 1982 by two French doctors. The first orthopaedic centres were set up in refugee camps in Cambodia, Burma and Laos. Simple, locally available equipment was used enabling Handicap International to provide immediate, effective and practical aid and to train competent local teams. The organization extended its work to other countries.

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