Of the total injured in the quake, over 1,000 need major surgery, including for injuries to the spinal cord, head, chest, hands and legs, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
"Government is in the process of collecting data on the types and seriousness of all kinds of injuries and arranging treatment for the injured on the basis of seriousness, and the spinal injuries will be given special care," said Dr Guna Raj Lohani, spokesperson of MoH.Earthquakes often result in large numbers of casualties, and among these the spinal cord injuries lead to serious consequences if not treated properly, experts working in the field said.
"More than 60 spinal injury cases have been admitted during the last two weeks at our center alone," said Isha Thapa, director of Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center, Kathmandu. Among the quake injuries being treated in various hospitals in Kathmandu Valley, more than 130 have been diagnosed with spinal injury requiring intensive care with no further delay, she added.
According to the experts, untrained local volunteers and rescue workers and reckless haste to rescue as many people as possible have added to the complications. The injured are pulled out of the rubble, dragged and carried off to hospital with scant consideration for spinal immobilization, and this leads to further complications, they said.
According to preliminary data issued by the World Health Organisation, approximately 12 percent of the injured have sustained spinal injuries.
The government has a strategy to address such serious injuries through a rehabilitation group, according to MoH. "Separate rehabilitation centers will be operated in the quake zones to provide special cure to patients with serious injuries including spinal cord injuries," MoH Spokesperson Lohani said.
However, Bhojraj Shrestha, member secretary of the Independent Living Center for PWDs (People with Disabilities), complained that the government was indifferent to serious injuries like spinal injury, posing a risk of increasing the number of physically disabled in the country.
Spinal injury is the cause of all sorts of disabilities and needs psychological counseling along with other treatment, said Keshav Timilsina, a spinal injury patient sheltering at Jawalakhel grounds, sharing his experience.
More than 10,000 people are expected to be left with physical disabilities in the near future, a majority of them with amputations. According to Independent Living Center for PWDs, more than 20 disabled were killed in the earthquake and some 330 left homeless.The latter are in need of serious attention from the government and stakeholders.
The organization says it is worried over government ignorance about the categorization of the disabled.
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