Consumer Empowerment Grows in Developing Countries

By Mary P. Novotny, RN, MS

As the world grows smaller through global communications, consumer needs in other countries are surfacing, and the dream of spreading the vision of Consumer Empowerment to persons with disabilities in underdeveloped countries is beginning to crystallize.

In developed nations, persons with disabilities working together are making considerable strides toward empowerment! They have more resources and more power over their lives. By comparison, in many developing countries, the disabled are neither respected nor recognized. The word "accessibility" is unknown, education is lacking, information and resources barely exist, technology is not a factor, and the great majority of disabled persons have no access to the meager care and services which do exist. They must take what little they can get and live by norms of a culture that may not be able to support them. Without foreign aid and volunteers, there is little hope for any quality of life.

Help for Landmine Survivors

Currently there are a number of consumer-driven programs emerging on the international level, including the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN). The LSN advocates for landmine victims and their families worldwide and helps these survivors to recover and resume their roles as contributing members of society. LSN accomplishments include: developing the Victim Assistance Program, a peer support network; distributing pamphlets on "Surviving Limb Loss" in several languages; and publishing the Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs. Leaders also organized the First Middle East Conference on Landmine Survival and Rehabilitation and assisted in developing the Treaty to Ban Landmines.

Assisting Cambodian Refugees

Handicap International, founded in 1982, advocates for Cambodian refugees by helping them "vivre debout" (to live upright). Working in close cooperation with medical and administrative authorities of each country, expatriates provide training courses with a focus on enabling disabled persons to recover autonomy and self-esteem, and integrate themselves back into society. Handicap International provides: emergency medical and psychological assistance, rehabilitation facility development and technology, rural development, community-based programs, social integration, education on landmine prevention, skills training, and human resource development.

War to Peace: Benefiting Amputees

International joint efforts have been under way for years to redirect scientists away from a focus on weapons technology to peaceful pursuits, such as solving the problems of amputees through improved technology. [Editor's note: For more information, visit these web sites: http://ipp.lanl.gov and http://www.istc.ru ].

The Bone & Joint Decade

Numerous professional groups are also leading advocacy efforts. The Bone & Joint Decade (BJD), 2000 to 2010, coordinated by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), began with a 1998 consensus meeting in Sweden. The goals of the program include global partnerships with patient and professional organizations, international research societies, and scientific journals and governments to address the present provisions of musculoskeletal care, the ideal provisions of care, and the costs and priorities for change in the care of patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

BJD in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) is collecting data on "the burden of disease" for musculoskeletal conditions and diseases. This global initiative calls on governments around the world to raise these conditions and diseases higher up on the political healthcare agenda to prepare for care of future generations.

Table Of Contents - July 2002

	Advocacy: A Win-Win Proposition What consumer advocacy has done for prosthetics and orthotics is similar to what occurred in the automobile industry in the mid-20th century. It has raised the bar for better technology and higher standards of care.
	From the Editor
	Amputee Advocacy: What’s Needed?
	CMS: Expedite 'Crosswalking' to Prevent Coding Hassles DC Direct
	NegReg: NOMA at Work DC Direct
	Century College O&P Students Form Unique Organization Education Outlook
	A Call to Expand and Improve the Advanced Science Content of O&P Curricula I propose that the advanced science requirement in O&P curricula should be expanded and the content improved. Education Outlook
	Physical Therapy: Schools Take a Hit O&P is not alone in its concern over declining school enrollment.
	AOPA Seminars Offer 20.5 CE Credits Industry Insight
	MCO Closed Provider Panels: Can They Be Opened? What if you, as an O&P provider, are confronted by managed care organizations' (MCOs') closed provider panels? Cutting Edge
	Fabricating a Flexible Brim Socket with a Rigid Distal End Shop Talk
	NegReg: Are Consumers Adequately Represented? Perspective
	Sneak Peek: Fillauer to Offer Innovative Orthotic Technology: SPL Orthotic Knee Joint Innovations
	Consumer Empowerment Grows in Developing Countries Salute!
	Provider Qualification Position Statement Exclusively Online
	Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Members Exclusively Online
	Competitive Bidding May Affect Up to One-Third of Orthotic Products From the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP)
	From the Editor Viewpoints