Manual Wheelchairs - World Health Organization

Box 3.2. A wheelchair service network in Papua New Guinea
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In Papua new guinea, an estimated 50 000 people need a wheelchair. Throughout 2003 and 2004, governmental health
and rehabilitation organizations and national and international nongovernmental organizations developed a strategy for
wheelchair provision. As a result, a pilot wheelchair service network, closely linked to the existing health and rehabilitation
services, was set up.
The wheelchair service network consists of a “regional wheelchair service” supporting four “satellite wheelchair
services”. The regional service is based at the national Orthotics and Prosthetics Service in lae. At the regional service,
technical personnel from the national Orthotics and Prosthetics Service team and physical therapy personnel from lae’s
Angau Hospital together carry out assessment, prescription, fitting, user training and follow-up. The national Orthotics
and Prosthetics Service provides repair services for users. This mixture of clinical and technical facilities has made the
setting up of the wheelchair service relatively easy, and the recent provision of dedicated premises for the service has
given it a stronger identity.
Two of the satellite services are based in local hospitals, one in a local prosthetic unit and one in a local communitybased
rehabilitation service. The community-based rehabilitation link with each service is strong. The communitybased
rehabilitation networks provide excellent referral, and the personnel work with hospital-based personnel to
provide users with a wheelchair.
Training in basic wheelchair service delivery for all of the clinical and technical personnel involved in the service
network was provided over two weeks by the international nongovernmental organization Motivation. Further support
for both clinical and technical personnel for one year was provided by a volunteer physiotherapist.
The network has the capacity to provide 25 wheelchairs per month. This is still not sufficient to meet the needs in
Papua new guinea. However, through the success of this pilot exercise in using existing services and personnel, much
has been learnt about the role of wheelchair services. In future, all stakeholders are keen to see the establishment
of more satellite services, as well as an increase in the capacity of the network to meet the needs of users with more
complex needs.
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