AID cooperative agreement no. 493-0370-A-00-0160-00 to World Vision International for a program entitled `Laos prosthetics/rehabilitation project for the disabled"

Activities will focus on training doctors and opening rehabilitative clinics. The project will begin with a needs assessment and possibly a survey to determine the nature and magnitude of disabilities in Laos, up to 30% of which may be war-related; present estimates place the number of disabled persons at about 148,000. Results will be used in formulating, in conjunction with GOL agencies (especially the National Orthopedic Center of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare) and with other NGO"s, a comprehensive national action plan. In addition, WVRD will conduct the following activities. (1) WVRD will equip an operating room at Mahosot Teaching Hospital in Vientiane as a lab for training some 45 emergency and general surgeons in basic orthopedic and prosthetic procedures; initially, Khon Kaen University in Thailand will provide visiting experts as trainers; eventually, the surgeon-trainees will take over responsibility for the training. (2) Orthopedics and prosthetics will be included in the surgery curriculum for sixth year medical students. This training will also be provided by experts from Khon Kaen, while an instructor from Laos" medical school is sent to Thailand for training. (3) To supplement the clinics operated by Handicap International, WVRD will open four new provincial rehabilitation clinics, train local people to produce inexpensive prosthetics, and train clinic staff to fit the devices. (4) Working with vocational schools and other NGO"s, WVRD will develop vocational training programs for the handicapped in skills such as animal husbandry, horticulture, sewing, typing, etc., and will assist trainees (2,500 are targeted) in finding jobs. (5) Lastly, WVRD will produce posters and radio broadcasts to educate the rural populace about the dangers of unexploded bombs and land mines, which are still found in fields in various provinces of Laos.