06.09.2019
The NATO Trust Fund supporting medical rehabilitation of Ukraine servicemen and women recently launched a two-year bachelor level educational program in Prosthetic and Orthotic (P&O) in Kharkiv with the long term objective to establish a bachelor and master level educational program certified by the International Society of Prosthetists and Orthotists (ISPO). This program will help to raise the level of medical services provided to amputated military members to international standards. The number of amputees in Ukraine has grown significantly due to the conflict in the Eastern part of the country.
This program is hosted at the P&O Research Institute in Kharkov, under the academic umbrella of the KNURE University, department for Radio-Electronics and with supervision from the German School of Rehabilitation Sciences. It is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Policy and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
Following the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO-Ukraine Commission Heads of State and Government identified medical rehabilitation as one of the key areas for developing practical cooperation with Ukraine. A NATO Trust Fund on Medical Rehabilitation led by Bulgaria and executed by NSPA was subsequently defined with objectives to:
- provide UKR military (both active and discharged) and civilian personnel from the defence/security sector) rapid access to medical rehabilitation care and to longer term medical services.
- ensure the medical rehabilitation system in Ukraine system offers sustainable services to UKR military (both active and discharged) and civilian personnel from the defence/security sector.
Since 2015, more than 500 wounded servicemen and 2,000 practitioners have benefited from services proposed by this Trust Fund which also supported the drafting of a new law on Medical Rehabilitation and the establishment of new medical professions such as Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Prosthesist.
Source: http://www.nspa.nato.int/en/news/news-20180403-7.htm
