Rehabilitation of landmine victims : the ultimate challenge

Abstract

Antipersonnel landmines are often used indiscriminately and frequently result in injury or death of non-combatants. In the last 65 years, over 110 million mines have been spread throughout the world into an estimated 70 countries. Landmine victims use a disproportionately high amount of medical resources; the vast majority of incidents occur in regions and countries without a sophisticated medical infrastructure and with limited resources, where rehabilitation is difficult in the best of circumstances. It is suggested that only a quarter of the patients with amputation secondary to landmines receive appropriate care.

Keywords

• Blast injuries/rehabilitation
• Blast injuries/complications
• Artificial limbs
• Health services accessibility
• Health care costs
• Cost of illness
• Socioeconomic factors