UN Blue Helmets Help Lebanese Mine Victims

UN blue helmets help Lebanese mine victims

The Indian Battalion serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has helped scores of Lebanese victims of mines and cluster bombs to regain some mobility.

The progress resulted from a "Jaipur Foot" clinic organized last week by the Battalion at its base in Ebel Es Saqi, near Marjayoun in south-eastern Lebanon. The clinic involved specialists, flown in from India, providing free medical examinations and "Jaipur Foot" limb fittings to Lebanese nationals who had been injured in mine or cluster bomb explosions.

Developed and manufactured in Jaipur in India, the eponymous artificial limb costs much less than many other prosthetic limbs available on the market while maintaining high quality.

Peacekeepers from the Indian Battalion spent more than two months identifying suitable candidates for the artificial limbs.

The clinic is the third of its kind. In 2006, 22 people were treated at the inaugural "Jaipur Foot" clinic, and another 123 Lebanese patients were fitted with the artificial limbs at another "Jaipur Foot" clinic in April this year.

"In light of the positive response to the previous clinics, the Indian Battalion decided to hold another one," said Major Sumit Sharma of the Indian Battalion. The Member of Parliament for Saida, Ali Oseiran, was credited with securing funding for the project which received $10,000 from the financial institution FransaBank.

He added that the Indian Battalion hoped to hold more "Jaipur Foot" clinics in the future.

ENDS

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