Rehab Centres in Pakistan

Providing Physiotherapy, OT, Orthotics & Prosthetics Treatment

Physical Disabilities are a great trial and source of difficulties for anyone, whether they are financially rich or poor. For thousands of people in Pakistan, after the 2005 earthquake, their lives changed as they suffered major physical injuries such as the loss of limbs or injuries to their spinal cords. This tragedy was aggravated even more, as many of these individuals were the sole bread earners in the family.

Northern Pakistan, where the epicentre of the earthquake was situated, also had no existing Physical Rehabilitation Centres, and thus ICNA Relief's partner organization in Pakistan, Helping Hand, established two Rehabilitation Centres for the physically disabled in Mansehra and Muzafarabad. Both of these rehab centres have been providing physiotherapy, occupational therapy, orthotics, prosthetics and psycho social support all under one roof, since 2006.

It is with great honour and gratitude to Allah, that we say the Helping Hand Rehab Centres for the Physically Disabled have become cutting edge centres of treatment for the thousands of Pakistan's northern inhabitants, as well as valuable training centres for new professional Physiotherapists. The rehab centres have treated more than fifteen thousand patients since their inception.

The Rehab Centres may have started out due to a one-time crisis, but they have now become a valuable resource for Pakistan as being one of the few centres providing state-of-the-art rehabilitation services, Alhamdulillah.

Br. Ilyas Syed is a U.S. citizen who has been volunteering with ICNA Relief & Helping Hand's Rehab Centres in Pakistan since their inception. He told us in an interview that the Helping Hand Rehab Centres setup in Mansehra and Muzafarabad were the first centres in Pakistan to have offered all five services of Physiotherapy, OT, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Phycho-Social support under one roof. In addition, he described to us in great details the Pakistan teams' plans of setting up a grand, permanent centre in Manshera that would house state-of-the art facilities and equipment to serve the patients better. The planned, permanent centre will serve as a model for the rest of Pakistan to follow, and will be custom designed to be completely wheel-chair accessible.

When asked about the costs charged to the patients in these centres, Br. Iyas said, "for the first three years after the Earthquake we did not charge any of the patients for the [physiotherapy and other] treatments. Now a days, we try to subsidise the treatment costs as much as we can through the donations we receive. Usually we charge only 150 Rs per physiotherapy visit, which is half the price of other clinics, and even then, we slash the charges for those who genuinely can't afford it."

In addition, the Institute of Rehabilitation and Medical Sciences (HHIRMS), is a parallel project that aims at providing professional Physiotherapy training for those aspiring to enter this field and help others. Training offered is usually two years in length, and trains competent individuals in Physiotherapy, Radiology, Health Technology, Lab Technology and Dental Technology.

The continuation and further expansion of these centres cannot happen without your generous monetary contributions. Please help ICNA Relief in growing this much needed project in Pakistan, by donating for the Rehabilitation Centres in Pakistan.