ROME, DECEMBER 4 – A new contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) operating in Afghanistan has been approved by the Italian Cooperation. The initiative targets disabled persons, including the victims of mines, and aims to increase the efficiency of rehabilitation services and mobility, as well as access to services and the promotion of social and economic reintegration. The contribution falls under the umbrella of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan.
The project -directed by Mr. Alberto Cairo- is to be carried out by the Afghanistan Physical Rehabilitation Program (PRP) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The initiative reached seven rehabilitation -situated in Kabul, Mazar, Herat, Jalalabad, Gulbahar, Faizabad and Lashkar Gah- centers and currently assists over 185,000 patients, of which 46,000 underwent a limb amputation.
Every year, approximately 100,000 new people are admitted into the program. Participants who have been victims of war represent around one tenth of patients. Most people in the program suffer from a non-war related pathology, and these numbers have been constantly increasing, especially children with congenital deformity or affected by cerebral palsy.
Alberto Cairo, an Italian physiotherapist who gets injured Afghans back on their feet, recently won One of the UNHCR 2019 prestigious Nansen Refugee Awards. He directs the seven centres for orthopedics run by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan. (SB@OnuItalia)
