The central government has sanctioned four spinal injuries centres with Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), New Delhi as the nodal institution in the country. The centers are to come up in the states of Punjab, UP, Orissa and MP and would be managed by a core committee which consists of representatives from the central and state governments, health NGOs and related organizations that are into the field of rehabilitation of the spine injured.
ISIC would provide all technical and managerial assistance in setting up the satellite centers. It will also train the entire team in these centers. The ISIC is in the process of finalizing the training schedule and curricula for the paramedical /medical staff who are to take charge in these four places.
Informing this, Dr A K Mukherjee, director general, ISIC said that the center is in talks with Delhi University to grant formal recognition to the specialized degree and diploma courses planned to be introduced by the center in near future. The ISIC will also have short term crash courses for prospective volunteers.
ISIC is also to become the first hospital in the country to introduce stem cell used regenerative therapy on spinal injured patients in near future. The first attempt in this direction is to be carried out within two months, Dr Mukherjee said.
Dr Mukherjee pointed out that the incidence of spinal injuries is very high in India and said that there is a need for one center in each state if proper care has to be given to spinal injured.
Though there is no epidemiological study on spinal injury, it is estimated that 40 per cent of the people with disabilities suffer from locomotor disabilities, mostly caused by spinal injury.
ISIC is the national leader in the treatment of spinal cord injuries and is the most advanced super specialty hospital cum rehabilitation center in South Asia. Its also into research, education and advocacy.
The institution is a state-of-the-art, super-specialty hospital specially conceived to provide comprehensive management to people with spinal injuries. Set up five years ago under a MoU between the Indian and Italian governments, the center had received substantial Italian funds for installing all sophisticated and state-of-the-art medical and engineering equipment and for training of professionals.
Central government on its part is covering the treatment expense of 30 per cent of beds in the hospital that has been reserved for the poor eligible for free treatment in the hospital.