Land mine victims demand artificial limbs
Dr Emmanuel Kalanzi displays some of the artificial limbs made at the Gulu Orthopaedic Workshop on Monday. PHOTO BY CISSY MAKUMBI
Gulu. Landmine survivors in Acholi sub-region have asked the Ministry of Health to allocate funds to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital to help manufacture artificial limbs.
In an interview with Daily Monitor on Monday, the coordinator of Land mine Survivors, Mr Stephen Okello, said at the moment, the hospital’s orthopaedic department has no capacity to manufacture artificial limbs.
Mr Okello said of the 65 per cent who received artificial limbs from government and private agencies, 40 per cent of the limbs are worn out and need replacement.
The Gulu hospital director, Dr Nathan Onyach, said the Orthopaedic Department cannot cater for all the needy.
“The department has been receiving resources entirely from donors. At the moment, we are calling for more donors to give a helping hand,” he said.
There are more than 867 land mine survivors in Amuru, Gulu and Nwoya districts alone. An artificial limb costs between Shs600,000 and Shs1 million. It takes between six months and one year to replace a pair of limbs.
