BOLIVIA: Charity group makes affordable prosthetic limbs

Record ID: 715607

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Charity group makes affordable prosthetic limbs
  • Date: 6th September 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PATIENT RECEIVING HIS FIRST PROSTHETIC LEG AND TESTING IT
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Business,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA1OOZX7QC7MBJOBFH7OP4JNEXU
  • Story Text: When former professional 'lucha libre' wrestler Julio Larrea lost his leg in a traffic accident he didn't know how he would be able to scrape up the cash to pay for an expensive prosthetic leg which can cost from $5,000 to $10,000 U.S. dollars, a high figure by most standards, but a staggering sum for most Bolivians.
    Bolivia is the second poorest country in Latin America and only about 20 percent of Bolivians have access to health insurance.
    Even those fortunate enough to be insured find the costs of prosthetics are beyond their coverage making the prospects for a new limb unattainable for most of the South American country's estimated 10,000 amputees.
    But Larrea, who could not return to wrestling after his accident, found hope for a new leg at the Matthew Pepe clinic at the Rotary Club San Pedro where he and his son, Hugo, visited in search of a new leg for the diabetic former wrestler.
    "I trained in judo, karate, but because of my stature I got work as a wrestler. In wrestling I've done characters like The Mummy, The Predator, Caribbean Shark, among others," Larrea said.
    "Seeing as I have diabetes, after the [traffic] accident my leg did not get better. They had to amputate it. I wanted to stay stagnant and emerged in the situation I faced. But with the help of the Matthew Pepe San Pedro Rotary Club I've been given a new lease on life with my new prosthetic leg," Larrea added.
    The charitable clinic looks to provide prosthetics for Bolivians in need for a fraction of the cost of expensive imported prosthetics.
    In order to be able to offer the replica limbs the Matthew Pepe Clinic makes the orthopedics in house in order to avoid importing expensive foreign made parts.
    Using local materials and labour the clinic's founder, a U.S. citizen, Matthew Pepe, says they are able to dramatically cut costs augmented by also using the latest technology provided by different universities and other organizations.
    "One of the ways that we provide the best quality prosthetic that can be made in Bolivia is by importing technology from universities around the world and particularly the United States. As you can see the Limbs International provided this design from the polycentric knee that can be produced here in Bolivia. Northwestern University has provided design for this foot called "shaping mould foot" which can be produced here with local material also. And this final foot that is actually designed in Vietnam, but the design itself was given to us by Prosthetic Outreach Foundation in Seattle, Washington, but branding name Pie," Pepe said.
    Since opening their doors in February, Pepe says the clinic has provided 25 prosthetic legs to needy patients.
    They are currently working with ten patients and hope to increasingly provide more prosthetics year over year as the clinic grows.
    Relying on donations and the lower production costs the clinic can offer most patients their prosthetics for as little as $100 U.S. dollars where as poorer patients often have no out of pocket costs.
    "Materials themselves are inexpensive, as we are trying to use material, machines and technicians from Bolivia. To keep the cost as low as possible. Our goal is not to import anything and yet make the highest quality prosthetic that we can, and that drives our cost far below any other imported part that can come from Europe, Brazil or Argentina," Pepe added.
    Pepe told Reuters most of their patients would remain wheelchair bound or have to use crutches for the rest of their lives without the help they provide.
    There are private clinics that provide prosthetics but the costs are usually far out of reach of most Bolivians.
    Bolivia has a number of equality laws aimed at giving its estimated 82,000 disabled citizens access to education, work, and housing, but Pepe says much work is still needed adding that many amputees in particular isolate themselves in their homes due to social stigmas that exist here.
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