In Kashmir a special healing touch

Jehangir Rashid Srinagar

FOUNDED in 1970 by Dr Mir Mohammad Maqbool, a renowned ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist, the Voluntary Medicare Society (VMS) at Bemina on the outskirts of Srinagar, has been helping people with disabilities shine in sports and achieve international fame for the country.

It has produced two international wheelchair basketball players, Ishrat Akhter and Inshah Bashir. While Akhter represented India at the international basketball championship in Pattaya, Thailand, Bashir represented the country in international basketball tournaments in Noida in Uttar Pradesh and in the US. She was selected for a national award by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and felicitated by President Draupadi Murmu. 

“The VMS has been able to improve the lives of people affected by certain disabilities. Our institution strives to highlight societal changes that can promote inclusion, participation and accessibility. This will help to realize the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society,” says Dr Bashir Ahmad Lone, director, VMS.

Initially the society provided rehabilitation to people affected by hearing and speech disabilities. Over time, services and facilities were extended to people with physical and mental disabilities.

Crippled by polio, Rameez Raja, a resident of Rathsun-Beerwah in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, couldn’t lead a normal life. Physiotherapy at the VMS has enabled him to move around.  “I can say I have improved by almost 90 percent,” he says. “I am now studying for my bachelor’s in humanities at Degree College in Magam. All thanks to Dr Qayoom, Dr Suhail and others at the physiotherapy unit.” He also plays cricket and took part in a wheelchair national cricket tournament held some months ago. The society has a sports club and a fleet of ambulances. It has in-patient wards as well.

Subsequently, the institute started services for people affected by spinal cord injuries. It has earned the reputation of being a one-stop centre for those who need occupational therapy, development therapy, physiotherapy, prosthetic consultation, orthotic consultation and counselling. Alongside, peer counselling is provided. All these activities are carried out under the banner of  the Shafaqat Rehabilitation Centre (SRC).

Dr Lone said that VMS owes its success to the hard work put in by its dedicated team. Awareness and solutions are most important, he said.

“The physiotherapy lounge is well-equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to provide therapies like manipulation, electro and hydrotherapy, exercises with special focus on spinal injuries, paediatrics, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and amputees. At the occupational therapy unit patients are trained in activities of daily living. Techniques like sensory integration therapy, bowel and bladder/pressure sore management therapy, neuro-developmental technique, splint making and adaptive devices are used,” said Dr Lone.

He said the prosthetic and orthotic appliances (artificial limbs) are manufactured in-house by an experienced team of professionals. The technology used is low-cost but of high quality. Needy patients are provided transportation, food and accommodation as well.

“The society conducts outreach programmes in far-flung areas of J&K. This helps us identify and refer  beneficiaries to the Shafaqat Rehabilitation Centre. We have two separate male and female wards to accommodate patients,” said Dr Lone. The VMS offers wheelchairs, customized walking aids, adaptive devices and hearing aids. 

The establishment of the Shafaqat Rehabilitation Centre was made possible thanks to the efforts of former bureaucrat Khurshid Ahmad Malik who suffered a spinal injury due to a horrific car accident on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway on March 19, 1987. Malik went to the  National Spine Centre in London for rehabilitation but the cost of treatment was very high.

“After struggling for 18 years the rehabilitation centre for physically, mentally impaired persons and for hearing and speech impaired persons was founded in May 2007 with the generous support of friends, relatives and, above all, by ordinary people. The rehabilitation centre has facilities like steam bath, hydrotherapy, CAM for pain management and a prosthetic limb centre which is operational since 2011,”  said Malik in a message.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, has also pitched in. It has  set up the prosthetics and orthotics centre and equipped it with modern gadgets and technology. Limbs and splints are provided free after a process of assessment for eligibility. The patients are discharged after providing gait training by physiotherapists specially trained for the purpose.

Irshad Manzoor Bhat, a resident of Hyderpora in Srinagar, had lost mobility of both legs. His stint at VMS has changed his life. “I never imagined I would be able to play wheelchair basketball and then represent my state at the national level. I also play cricket and do all things independently.”

At the speech therapy unit manual and technical devices are used to develop listening skills.  All this is done under the auditory and speech training module of the institute. Equipment is available to record and assess hearing loss in children and adults with hearing impairment.

VMS also works for visually impaired people. It has established a digital literacy lab for them.  From 2017 to 2022, VMS rehabilitated 248 visually impaired beneficiaries. The organization provided them with adjustment courses that included mobility training, Braille literacy and activities of daily living (ADL). Recognizing the critical role of technology in modern education and employment, VMS launched a new initiative in 2022 aimed at digitally training visually impaired children.

This initiative sought to equip children with the digital literacy needed to thrive in today’s technology-driven world. Over 2023 to 2024, VMS successfully completed four computer training batches, digitally training 48 visually impaired children.

The society is in the process of constructing a super specialty hospital for patients who need specialized treatment. As a social organization, the VMS  depends on  donations by people within and outside the country. It also collaborates with banks like State Bank of India (SBI) and the Jammu & Kashmir Bank.