Paraplegic Center Peshawar
About Us
Vision:
Enabling people with spinal cord injuries, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country to their maximum physical & psychosocial capacity within the limits of their physical and environmental limitations;
Transforming society by optimizing functional mobility minimizing barriers, building skills and encouraging inclusion, to improve human experience.
Mission:
Physical, Occupational, Vocational and Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Community Re-integration, Wheelchair accessibility, minor home modifications, Participation in Sports /Games, Re-creational activities, Job Placement & Socio-economic support, of people with spinal cord injuries.
Sensitization of the Medical fraternity, Govt functionaries, Political leaders, religious scholars and general masses regarding the plight & issues of people with all kinds of Physical disabilities.
Promotion, Projection and Advocacy of the basic human rights of people with spinal cord injuries in particular & other disabilities in general.
Chairman’s Message
As “Secretary Finance Govt. of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” from 2002 till 2009, I had close interaction with the “Paraplegic CenterHayatabad”. I always appreciated the Centre’s performance and maintained an overall good impression regarding its services throughout my tenure. However, I visited the Center for the first time when, I reluctantly accepted the responsibility to be appointed as its Chairman of the “Board of Governors” (BOG), by the Provincial Government, in March, 2012. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that “Paraplegic Center” was not only serving, destitute people with Severe “Spinal Cord injuries” (SCIs), one hundred percent free of cost, it also maintains standards par excellence, consuming very decent financial resources. Using low cost, local technology and indigenous medical professionals, it’s the only facility of it’s kind, serving the Medical, Physical, Occupational, Recreational, Vocational and Psychosocial Rehabilitation needs of People with SCIs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and the rest of the country and Afghanistan. Paraplegic Center, also serves as a role model of the “Comprehensive Physical Rehabilitation” in Pakistan besides the fact that it’s a health care facility, where mostly the workers and professionals take pride in working with a missionary zeal. I think “Paraplegic Center” has all the ingredients to become a “Center of Excellence” for the treatment and Comprehensive Rehabilitation of “People with Spinal Cord Injuries” from all over the Country. I personally feel proud to be a part of such a dynamic institution. Using my experience of 4 decades, working with the Government, I’ll not leave any stone unturned in order to turn “Paraplegic Center” into an institution which, not only serves the Rehabilitation needs of SCIs, in Pakistan, it must also embark upon, much needed academic, research and development programs in the ever growing arena of the “Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation”, inshallah.
CEO’s Message
Breaking a bone or two is one thing! Breaking back or neck is yet another, as unlike any other bone in our body, the spine, (back bone) not only keeps our body straight and tall, it also protects the delicate nervous tissue called the spinal cord, which serves as a link between our body and the brain. Though it takes a violent force to break our back or neck, most of the time the impact is so strong, that it damages our spinal cord resulting into partial or complete loss of function below the level of injury.Think of a healthy and young male or female becoming the prisoner of his/her own body, loosing control over his/her bowl and bladder, within a split second. One can easily imagine the level of frustration and anxiety this person will go through, yet there is another tragic twist to it. What if this young person was the only bread winner of a his/her family? That’s where breaking one’s back or neck can mount to a broken family, and believe it or not about 80% of our clients are the only bread winners of their respective families, while more then 90% live below the poverty line. Road traffic accidents being the #1 cause of spinal cord injuries, it mostly affect people below 40 in the developed countries, however, in Pakistan the mean age of our patients is 26 and falls from roof tops, trees, electric poles etc is the leading cause followed by an alarming rate of fire arm/gun shot wounds. (Refer to our Annual Report 2006, for other major causes of spinal cord injures in Pakistan). In monitory terms nothing is more expensive than treating and rehabilitating patients with spinal cord injuries and it mounts to millions of dollars to rehabilitate just one patient in Europe or USA. You will be glad, to know, that we achieve the same within a friction of that amount right here in Hayatabad, Peshawar. At the moment we use locally developed, low cost technology when it comes to the adoptive/supportive equipment, however, our Physical Rehabilitation protocols and Medical/Nursing care is 2nd to none in Pakistan. It take a great deal of courage and patience to work with Paraplegics and Quadriplegics for a long time, it will not be fair, not to recognize, all the staff members who have spared their lives to this noble cause. Paraplegic Center is home to many great souls who have sacrificed their own comfort to give hope to others. To most of us here at Paraplegic Center, it’s not a job, it’s a Mission and we pledge to transform Paraplegic Center Hayatabad, into a Center of Excellence for Patients, with spinal cord injuries from all over the country and the region, in next 5 years (Inshallah).