Institute of rehabilitation declared as centre of excellence

Thrissur, Feb 6 (PTI): KeralaChief Minister PinarayiVijayan on Saturday declared the National Institute ofPhysical Medicine and Rehabilitation (NIPMR), an autonomousorganisation, as centre of excellence.

The organisation provides multi-disciplinaryintervention and rehabilitation of differently-abled people.

The Chief Minister made the declaration of NIPMR as acentre of excellence through video conference.

Minister for Health, Social Justice and Woman and ChildDevelopment K K Shailaja presided over the function heldatKallettumkara near Irinjalakuda here.

Vijayan appreciated the initiatives taken by NIPMR in thearea of rehabilitation of differently-abled people.

''The goal of the government is to take differently-abledpeople to the mainstream and it has launched variousprogrammes, including Anuyatra, for the same. Earlyintervention centres have been set up in all the districtsand all the medical colleges for identifying and treating theissues at an early stage, Chief Minister said in a pressrelease.

He said the most-modern therapy centres, one of the bestaquatic rehabilitation centres, and the virtual reality unitmake NIPMR different.

Vijayan expressed hope that the academic programmeslaunched by NIPMR would help address the shortage ofprofessionals in the field of rehabilitation of differently-abled people.

Shailaja said institutes at international-level can beset up in the state and NIPMR is an example for the same.

''The government will set up centres across the state forthe rehabilitation of differently-abled people after thedeath of their parents and the help of various NGOs will besought for the purpose,'' Shailaja said.

An autonomous organisation under the Social JusticeDepartment, NIPMR has been equipped with the latesttechnologies and expertise in the field of rehabilitation.

The institute has grown into a centre of excellence in thefield of rehabilitation of differently-abled by setting upthe latest facilities including state-of-the-art spinalinjury rehabilitation unit, aquatic rehabilitation centre,art ability centre, ear mould lab, call and connect information gateway for differently-abled, prosthetics andorthotics unit, sensory park, sensory garden, and virtualrehabilitation unit and launching latest therapies.

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