Red Cross: 15 percent of Iraqi population disabled
The logo of The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) noted Wednesday that more than eight million Iraqis live among deadly war remnants, and confirmed that 15 percent of Iraq’s residents are disabled.
“The ICRC continues its role and is committed to contribute to efforts of sustainable recovery and improving adaptation ability,” ICRC spokesperson in Iraq Hiba Adnan said, according to al-Maalomah News Agency.
“Iraq is one of the countries that contain a large number of people with disabilities, where around six million citizens representing 15 percent of the population are disabled, against a limited number of physical rehabilitation centers and a few therapists and trainers,” Adnan explained.
“The ICRC opened a new physical rehabilitation center in the city of Erbil northern Iraq in the middle of March. The space of the new center is 14,630 square meters and is considered the largest of its kind in the country. It provides a wide range of high-quality and sustainable physical rehabilitation services,” Adnan added.
“The center will be equipped to be able to provide annual services to six thousand people of those who live in Kurdistan and neighboring governorates including Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala. The services the center will provide will include prosthetic limbs, orthotics, and access to wheelchairs, walking aids and other necessary tools to help them perform daily activities,” Adnan noted.
“The center also provides financial assistance to establish small businesses, in addition to vocational training, mental health support and social support for people with disabilities to help them to become integrated in the society,” Adnan pointed out.
The cost of the project is 5.2 million US Dollars and is located next to Road 120.
“The physical rehabilitation sector in Iraq suffers from difficulties due to the lack of skilled practitioners, and to solve this issue, the ICRC, in cooperation with Erbil Technical University, developed a study program of four years in the Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics in Erbil. In this department, students are educated and trained to become specialists in this field to contribute to physical rehabilitation services,” the ICRC spokesperson explained.
ICRC’s estimations indicate that there are more than six hundred thousand Iraqis in need of physical rehabilitation services, two hundred thousand of them need an orthotic or prosthetic limb.