The potential for artificial limbs to return people to productive capacity got a big advertisement in May 2012 when triple-amputee athlete Rajesh Durbal visited Trinidad and Tobago.Mr Durbal, whose parents are from this country, has participated in the Iron Man world Triathlon."Sweat," he said on his arrival in Trinidad, "is nothing compared to your tears."
The government's new plan to provide 300 prostheses per year to citizens is a project with which it's difficult to find fault.In November 2012, speaking at the launch of Chaguanas-based prosthetics manufacturing company Caribbean Medical Solutions, Minister of the People and Social Development, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh lamented the rate of diabetes related amputations in T&T.
According to Dr Ramadharsingh, 140,000 people manage diabetes in the country, a statistic he described as "alarming." The Health Ministry estimates that 400 people lose limbs annually.
The programme, with a budget of $12 million, will be managed as one-off grants with funding set at $40,000 per person with exceptional cases allowed a ceiling of $100,000. Dr Ramadharsingh explained that "private parties," which he declined to name, would supply prosthetics to the Ministry at reduced cost, ranging between US$2,000 and $5,000, a significant drop from the normal price of US$20,000 and up for a single limb.
The Social Development Minister also announced a social mentors programme designed to inspire the disabled, with a focus on the country's 5,000 disabled children. Persons identified by schools, groups, organisations and clubs as mentors would be eligible for one-time grant of $10,000 and a monthly stipend of $3,500 for the next two years.
This programme will be overseen by the ministry's disability section, which will make appropriate suggestions to the Minister. Both programmes cast some welcome and overdue light on the challenges facing the disabled in T&T, and will serve to improve their lot if managed effectively.Do these projects go far enough? Are they sustainable?Both programmes feel too much like government handout programmes, though they have identified critical social needs.
Mr Ramadharsingh's plan will dramatically improve the supply or artificial limbs to persons unable to afford them, but has he considered how these limbs will be kept functional throughout their useful life?Perhaps part of the $12 million spend proposed for the purchase of prosthetics should be used to encourage the growth of a repair and service industry for devices that might, with good fortune, lead innovators to create their own versions of such products somewhere further down the road.
While rewarding existing social mentors for their investment of time and energy is a flattering project, there needs to be more work done on encouraging the development and engagement of more persons who might be interested in participating in such motivational projects.The Social Development Minister's heart is in the right place on these projects, he just needs to ensure that his thinking is equally sound in the follow through on these initiatives.