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Iran: international seminar on improving physical rehabilitation services
28-09-2009 News Release 09/193
Tehran (ICRC) – "Those who are physically disabled need to have the same living rights and opportunities as other members of the community," said Dr Masoud Khatami, the president of the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran, at the opening session of the first international seminar held by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Iran's Red Crescent, which is taking place in Tehran from 26 to 30 September.
The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding in 2008 aiming to promote the exchange of experience and improve bilateral cooperation in the field of physical rehabilitation.
During the seminar, participants will share experience in providing physical rehabilitation services in developing countries and deal with a range of topics, such as the notions of disability and rehabilitation, provision of appropriate services, and implementation of a comprehensive physical rehabilitation programme and its challenges.
" The main objective of a national physical rehabilitation programme is to ensure that the services provided are accessible, that they meet existing needs, are of good quality, and that they continue to function in the long term, " said Pierre Ryter, the ICRC's head of mission in Iran. He also emphasized the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach in the provision of physical rehabilitation services.
" The Iranian Red Crescent, through its health, treatment and rehabilitation department has been providing physical rehabilitation services in the country for more than 45 years. In 2008, it provided its services to more than 84,000 persons, " said Dr Mir Ahmad Mousavi, the secretary-general of the Iranian Red Crescent. " Over the years, the Red Crescent has developed a leadership position in physical rehabilitation in Iran, mainly because of the scope of its activities nationwide, its acknowledged expertise and the resources it allocates to ensure provision of appropriate physical rehabilitation services. "
Participants in the seminar will include 28 representatives from 13 countr ies (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Chad, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Algeria, Mauritania and Yemen), four international organizations (the ICRC, the World Health Organization, the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and the African Federation of Orthopaedic Technicians), as well as representatives of national bodies such as the Ministry of Health, the Welfare Organization, the Martyrs Foundation and Iran Medical Sciences University.
For further information, please contact:John Strick van Linschoten, ICRC Tehran, tel: +98 912 327 30 99 or +98 21 88 78 55 03/4
Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 25 90 or +41 79 251 93 18
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