Home Dehradun “Disability not only health issue, but a socio-economic one, too”

“Disability not only health issue, but a socio-economic one, too”

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By Our Staff Reporter

Dehradun, 24 Jun: Sanjay Orthopaedic, Spine & Maternity Centre and SHEWA Society organised a webinar on Deformity and Disability correction on 23 June. Disability is any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person to do certain activities and interact with the world around them. The National Sample Survey conducted by the Government of India in 2018 showed that about 2.1 per cent of the total population is disabled. Out of them, 20.3 per cent had movement disability. Locomotor disability means problem in moving from one place to another, that is, disability in the legs.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gaurav Sanjay said during the webinar that people with disabilities have the same health needs as physically fit people. Disability is thus, not just a health problem but rather a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between the disabled person and society. Polio, cerebral palsy (CP) and club foot in childhood are the main causes of locomotor disability in India.
Disability not only results in physical loss but mental, financial and social loss as well. Disability caused due to deformity can be reduced significantly with exercise, manipulation and orthosis and/or after undergoing various surgeries. Dr Sanjay stated that surgery has played an important role in the lives of persons with disabilities. The deformities and disabilities caused due to any reason whatsoever should be corrected at the earliest.
According to orthopaedic and spine surgeon Dr BKS Sanjay, road traffic accidents have become an epidemic in our country, causing havoc and producing significant disability in society. Almost five lakh people are victims of road traffic accidents, in which more than a fourth are dying and at least another fourth are being disabled for life. These road traffic accidents are high energy injuries which are fatal and involve multiple bones and sometimes multiple organs. It is very difficult in general to give functional results that match the pre-injury status.
The incidence of amputation has significantly reduced and is nearly negligible in road traffic accidents. But the number of amputations in diabetic foot, Berger’s disease, atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) and other peripheral vascular disease has increased tremendously in recent times. These can be avoided by becoming health conscious, as these diseases are a result of a sedentary lifestyle. The awareness of late stage complications of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking and alcohol abuse too should be spread among the general public.