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ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled calls on States to do more for poor people with disabilities
28-11-2008 News Release 08/218
Geneva (ICRC) – States must strengthen their commitment to people living with physical disabilities in low-income countries to ensure that they have long-term access to rehabilitation services.
3 December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. On this occasion, the Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is emphasizing that the physical rehabilitation needs of people with disabilities are under-addressed and rarely considered a priority.
" People living with disabilities are a forgotten group in many developing countries that have numerous other concerns, " said Claude Le Coultre, chairwoman of the SFD. " It is important that these people are given the chance to become independent and able to support themselves. "
Approximately 650 million people – around 10 per cent of the world’s population – live with disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. Thirty million people – 80 per cent of whom live in poor countries – need prosthetic or orthotic services.
" Needs continue to grow, but not resources. In view of the current global financial crisis, the challenge is to ensure public and donor support for rehabilitation centres so that they continue their important work to help people to walk and work again, " said Dr. Le Coultre. " We would like to increase significantly the number of people we are serving over the next few years. However, this will require additional public and private funding. "
Helping people with disabilities to walk, work and play again is the core aim of the SFD. The organization was created by the ICRC to support physical rehabilitation centres in low-income countries, in particular by taking over and ensuring the continuity of projects formerly run by the ICRC. The SFD operates separately from the ICRC, including in some countries from which the ICRC has withdrawn, providing rehabilitation services for more than 15,000 people all over the world.
" For a relatively small investment, people living with disabilities can regain confidence, dignity and mobility and truly integrate back into society, " commented Max Deneu, who heads the SFD in Africa. " However, restoring mobility is only a first step. Maintaining mobility is a long-term process. A child, for example, needs a new prosthesis every six months while an adult must change his every three years. We are building capacity at the local level to ensure that these needs are met. "
Over the past 25 years, the SFD has supported some 90 physical rehabilitation centres in 43 developing countries. It currently has 61 projects under way in 29 countries.
For further information, please contact:
Michelle Rockwell, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 2412 or +41 79 251 9311
Theo Verhoeff, SFD Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 2357 or +41 22 730 2401
http://www.icrc.org/fund-disabled
Editor's note: Dr. Le Coultre recently visited Togo, Ethiopia and Vietnam. She is available for interview on 2 December 2008.
Biographical information:
Claude Le Coultre , Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Medici ne of the University of Geneva, Previous Vice-Dean of the Faculty and Chair of the Faculty Committee on Cooperation with the Countries of the South and East. She has been the Geneva University Hospital delegate for humanitarian affairs from 2004 to 2007.
Claude Le Coultre has been working in the Geneva University Hospitals since 1978 and has been practising as a paediatric surgeon since 1979. She was in charge of the Paediatric Surgery Department of the Geneva Children’s Hospital from 1991 to 2004.
She has been a member of the Foundation Council of Children Action since 1994, devoting part of her time there to surgery and development projects in Asian countries.
In 2004 she was elected to chair the PIAH (Interdisciplinary Programme in Humanitarian Action), a post-graduate programme offered by the University of Geneva, until 2007.
Claude Le Coultre has been a member of the ICRC since 2004; she currently serves on the Audit Committee. Since January 2008, she chairs the board of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled.
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