War amputees, the disabled desperate for prosthetic limbs in Soran

SORAN, Kurdistan Region — Once accepting civilian and military patients with all kinds of mobility needs, Soran’s prosthetic centre is no longer among the best in the country.

It does not receive any funds or support from the Kurdish or Iraqi government, leaving thousands of amputees in desperate need of prosthetic limbs.

Ahmed Ali, 31, was born with congenital deformities and lives in Soran. He was three years old when he first received prosthetic legs. He has had 26 different pairs throughout his life, but is struggling to find new ones.

“I have come back here to change my prosthetic legs. They say they don’t have the materials and cannot change them for me. They say I must wait until they receive new materials,” Ahmed Ali.

“I am calling on the Minister of Health to visit this place at least once to witness the difficulties I and thousands like me are in and to see our suffering,” he added.

In the past, patients used to be given good quality prosthetic limbs and new materials for free at this centre. They also used to be offered physiotherapy and vocational training courses to help them rehabilitate.

“After the UN stopped its support in 2003, our work gradually started to slow down. Since we have been associated with the [KRG] Health Ministry, they have not been able to meet our demands due to the economic crisis and their inability to afford to buy the expensive materials,” said Majeed Ahmed, head of the Soran Prosthetics Centre.

The centre has an estimated 12,000 patients, with some of them visiting every day.

It was founded in 1992 by the German Voluntary Relief Doctors [VRD] organization.

Translation by Zhelwan Zeyad Wali