Sustainable Health Care For China’s Earthquake Victims: Campaign to create rehabilitation center
July 7, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — Long-term care, including physical and mental rehabilitation, is essential for children injured in China’s recent earthquake, according to the health care organization Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere). The group launched a publicity campaign last week with the goal of creating a pediatric rehabilitation center in the disaster zone.
The earthquake has left thousands of children with injuries such as paralysis, broken limbs and amputations that will require long periods of treatment. The group also plans to assess mental health needs, especially for those suffering from post-traumatic stress.
So far, the Western Region Advisory Board of Project HOPE has secured cash donations and commitments totaling $100,000 toward its immediate China relief efforts. Nationally, the organization has raised nearly $1 million in relief money. It hopes to generate further support for its five-year recovery services, including the construction of the center.
The group is calling attention to the shortage of physical and occupational therapists and counselors in the affected area. Stuart Fong, who serves as the link between the board and the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, stressed the importance of mental wellness, which often sits low in priority. “There will be periods where survivors may develop depression, especially when confronted with the effects of the devastation every day while trying to get on with their lives,” Fong said. “Mental health is as important to an individual’s well- being as their physical health.”
The earthquake struck Sichuan Province while board members were visiting the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center facility they built with the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government 10 years ago.
Katherine Yee, a board member who made the trip, recalled a 13-year-old girl who lost both her parents in the quake but appeared to be in good spirits. “I’m pretty sure it’s all the care and attention she’s getting,” she said.
The Project has tackled similar post-earthquake situations in the past, establishing a rehabilitation center following Turkey’s 1999 earthquake and devising training programs for health professionals in other countries devastated by conflict, natural disasters and poverty.
HOPE is assembling a Pediatric Rehabilitation Assessment Team to visit Sichuan Province in mid- to late July to develop a proposal and budget for long-term engagement.
At a recent press conference for the project, Shen Weilian, deputy consul general of the People’s Republic of China in San Francisco, expressed gratitude for the goodwill Americans have shown to victims of the quake, but looked ahead to the long road. “Lots of children suffered, and they are China’s future,” he said.
For more information or to make a donation, visit projecthope.org or call (800) 544-4673.
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