Rehabilitation in developing countries

As Mohan Radhakrishna and Lalith Satkunam point out in their introduction to the recent CMAJ series on rehabilitation,1 this important topic is not covered appropriately in medical schools. Furthermore, rehabilitation of those affected by physical and mental disability is neglected in developing countries, often as a result of corruption, poor management of financial resources and lack of natural resources.

Almost 10% of the global population is disabled in some way,2 and most of those affected are elderly.3 Limitation of daily activities and inability to perform economically productive activities cause decreases in family income and deterioration in living standards. Reduced income, poor housing, and lack of safe drinking water and sanitation result in increases in infectious and nutritional deficiency diseases. Thus begins a vicious cycle: disability leading to poverty leading to disease leading to more disability.

There is an urgent need to establish an international centre to coordinate efforts to rehabilitate affected patients and limit their disability.

Maulik V. Baxi Final-year medical student Medical College and Shri Sayaji General Hospital Associate Editor Asian Student Medical Journal Baroda, Gujarat, India