KARACHI, Oct 5: Artificial limbs. There are plenty of shops and workshops here in the artificial limbs or orthopaedic appliances business. Quite frankly it is more of a service than a business.
Mohammad Abbas quietly works on putting the Velcro on a corset-like contraption made of some kind of very hard rubber or fiberglass in a small workshop at Garden. There are several long leg braces, orthopaedic shoes and artificial legs along with plaster of Paris moulds of different leg sizes there.
Mr Abbas says that he used to work in a car plumber shop nearby before this. Asked why he switched to this kind of work when motor mechanics certainly pays better, the young man only shrugs and mumbles something about liking the work here. It was only later that the fact that he wasn’t using at least three fingers of the right hand while working became apparent. Mr Abbas was also missing half of his left foot.
“Abbas is my best worker. He is fully trained in the new and old methods of making orthopaedic appliances,” says orthotist and prosthetist Irfan Ali Dina who besides owning the workshop at Garden also happens to be the son of Dr Asghar Ali Dina, who back in 1953 pioneered the art of making orthopaedic appliances in Karachi.
“Now there are several more such workshops doing good work for orthopaedic patients. I have my main office at Rimpa Plaza, where there are another four such workshops owned by others. There are also workshops near the Capri Cinema, at Saddar and Nazimabad,” he says.
“At the YMCA at Gulshan, they have experts from India coming in to fit people with appliances for free. The Jaipur foot is a big hit in India and here as well,” he adds.
“Patients are referred to us by their doctors. Our orthopaedic appliances specially benefit polio patients. For them we have the heavy shoes with heavy rods, called the long leg brace for supporting the leg,” he says.
“But braces and orthopaedic shoes are now considered an old method of providing support. The new method includes Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) and the Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO). They are the latest in the world,” Mr Dina explains.
“Still, we are some 25 years behind the rest of the world in orthopaedic appliances,” he argues. “Yes, we no longer have those conventional limbs that had to be tied to the body with a belt. The new limbs have sockets that don’t need belts and are far more comfortable to wear. But the advanced world has now moved to modular prosthesis that can even give the sense of touch back to you,” he continues.
“Hence dancers and sports people are back on their feet, carrying on with what they do, thanks to this kind of technology. But sadly we in Pakistan don’t have all that here as yet because just these things cannot be done in small workshops. They need entire manufacturing plants. And a plant will not cost less than 50 to 100 million rupees. Just one sports prosthesis that has electrodes, batteries, etc, also costs around Rs800,000 to Rs1 million. So it is no surprise that the four Pakistani experts in modular prosthesis who came here to find no progress in their field are now in the US, UK and UAE,” he says.
Meanwhile, an ordinary orthopaedic appliance from Germany will cost between Rs13,000 and Rs14,000 here. In contrast, appliances from China are in the vicinity of three to six thousand rupees. “The Chinese appliance will also be more durable when compared with the German one as it is made according to our local climatic conditions.
“But the polypropylene sheets are imported from Spain, Germany, Iran and England, with the best of these coming from Germany,” the expert says.
“We here try our best to make life easier for people with handicaps with whatever technology we have. We must be doing a good job of this as everyone getting an artificial limb or support from us doesn’t return to share with us their stories of leading a normal life again. We only see them when their appliance breaks and needs to be replaced,” he laughs.
