A charitable institution in Udaipur has created a record of sorts by conducting corrective surgeries on 61,026 differently-abled persons from India and abroad since 2017, while treating cases of polio, cerebral palsy and other birth disabilities. The institution’s hospital has continued to perform surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides Indian patients, those from Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Britain and the U.S. underwent free-of-cost corrective surgeries on the Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) campus in Udaipur. Over 5,100 patients were operated upon in 2020 during the pandemic, as compared to 16,734 in 2019.
In 2021, only 2,566 patients underwent surgeries because of second wave of the pandemic, when the medical infrastructure was being utilised for saving the lives of patients infected with the virus. The corrective surgeries have enabled the patients, mostly belonging to destitute families, to walk and lead a normal life.
NSS president Prashant Agarwal told The Hindu on Thursday that persons with disabilities were being treated at the hospital with the Ilizarov surgical technique, which involved external fixation to lengthen or reshape the limb bones. The bone growth achieved through gradual distraction of long-bone deformities was found to have provided functional improvement among the patients, he said.
Since very few poor families were coming forward for treatment of their differently-abled members amid the deprivation caused by the pandemic, the NSS organised special surgery camps and imparted skill training to enable them to earn a livelihood and get empowered to be a part of the mainstream society.
Mr. Agarwal said a team of five differently-abled persons, rehabilitated at the NSS after their corrective surgeries, had offered health-related counselling to the people facing similar disabilities through live sessions on social media platforms during the pandemic's first wave in 2020. Senior doctors in Udaipur joined them to provide medical advice to the needy.
The NSS has taken up activities such as artificial limb distribution, skill education, health care support and free food along with mass wedding ceremonies for the differently-abled.
