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Lady undergoes physical therapy to learn to walk again at the Spinal Rehabilitation Center.

Spinal Rehabilitation Center Inaugurated In Muzaffarabad

Muzaffarabad - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a consortium of Pakistani partners inaugurated a Spinal Rehabilitation Centre at the Abbas Institute for Medical Sciences, Muzaffarabad (AIMS). The Centre will help people with spinal and nervous system injuries -- most of which were sustained due to the earthquake -- regain control of their lives through physical therapy, psychological counseling, vocational training and the use of mobility devices.

The new Centre will have the capacity to handle 80 patients a day and will include treatment of paraplegics and quadriplegics. All of the Centre’s activities will encourage the integration and mainstreaming of people with spinal injuries back into society.

The Chief Secretary for Azad Jammu and Kashmir Kashif Murtaza, and USAID Mission Director Jonathan Addleton spoke at the inauguration. Addleton said that the Centre "Is an important and much needed response to the earthquake that left behind broken buildings, broken families and broken bodies."

While USAID contributed the majority of the funds, the Centre is the product of the cooperative efforts and donations of a host of partners including AIMS, Primary Trauma Care, the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center, Aga Khan University Hospital, the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) and the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). Creative Tents International donated the 30 ft. by 60 ft. tent that houses the facility and United Parcel Service shipped the tent from the United States to Muzaffarabad free of charge.

Chief Secretary Murtaza thanked the donors on behalf of the government and people of Kashmir. He added, "The impressive thing about this project is that it is truly a partnership between American and Pakistani institutions to provide a high quality and necessary public service."

The Centre is part of USAID’s District Grants Program, which RSPN is implementing throughout Pakistan. The program brings together the energies of district government, RSPN’s partners the Rural Support Programmes and the private sector to meet the needs of poor communities through projects in health, education, water supply, irrigation, sanitation, and skill development. Through these programs, district governments leverage USAID’s contributions with their own funds and those of the private sector and communities.

The United States, through USAID is providing more than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan over the next five years to improve education, health, governance and economic growth. In addition, the United States has pledged a total of $510 million in earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts to assist the people of Pakistan and to support Pakistani government relief and reconstruction efforts.