ABC Rehabilitation in Dhaka, Bangladesh

From the 15th – 19th March 2015, Interburns ran a 5 day intensive training programme in Physical Rehabilitation for Burns. This joint programme was developed collaboratively by Interburns and the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation (Taiwan) and was hosted in partnership with Acid Survivors Foundation and the National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh.

ABC Rehabilitation is a five day programme designed for physiotherapists and occupational therapists treating burns in low resource environments. It has been designed ‘from the ground up’ specifically for Low and Middle Income Countries, as a highly practical and hands-on course.

The National Institute for Burns and Plastic Surgery, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh is one of the largest units in the world with typically 400-500 inpatients each day and a busy outpatient service. NIBPS provided a unique training environment where participants were able to interact with a large number of patients with a wide range of burn injuries in a busy operational burn service.

This initial training included 26 participants from government and NGO hospitals in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Priority was given to therapists from selected government services in Bangladesh and Nepal, who are participating in the ongoing Interburns quality improvement project funded by the UKs DFID. The impact of the training was assessed through pre- and post-course evaluations, which demonstrated an overall increase of 57% in participant’s scores.

Interburns would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in making this pilot programme a great success.