Minister for Home Affairs, Crime Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Persons with Disabilities Jeremiah Norbert is enthusiastic about the prospect of having limbs being manufactured on the island.
The minister revealed that as early as May, St. Lucians will undergo training in the field so as to shorten the time required to allow patients to be back on their feet.
Tapion Hospital, according to the minister, has donated adequate space to facilitate this collaborative effort, which also got support from the Rotary Club. “As we speak, we have done all the retrofitting of the space and the equipment for that space is on the way. By July or August, we should be in a position to actually produce prosthetics. The whole idea is to ensure that prosthetics are affordable and every individual who requires one can get one.”
The minister went on to explain that in addition to the facility, a national disability registry will be established to facilitate data driven decisions which will encourage affordability. “Currently it cost on average, for somebody who require basic below knee prosthetics, a little over $6000. That’s with donated parts, not with new parts. We want to cut that cost by almost 80%.”
Minister Norbert said a benefit to the initiative is the fact that a few St. Lucians were already partially trained in producing prosthetics, some of whom are prosthetic users themselves. He explained that the local builders would be trained locally but would have to travel abroad for final certification.
Norbert dispelled with the myth that acquiring a prosthetic limb takes a long time. He went on to explain that the healing process varies from person to person, requiring critical care and attention. The production of the limb, he revealed, can be executed within 10 days.
Norbert, himself a prosthetic user, lost part of his leg as a result of a horrific motorcycle accident only month before being elected to political office.