- The Mexican State of Chihuahua has implemented a successful rehabilitation and prostheses program for disabled people to recover their normal lives.
- The University of Chicago collaborates with the Mexican State of Chihuahua to exchange state-of-the-art technology to develop low-cost prostheses.
In Mexico, the National Health System, led by Doctor Mercedes Juan, Mexican Minister of Health, works coordinately to offer disabled people comprehensive care regarding rehabilitation, prostheses and orthosis for them to recover their working and social lives.
An example of this coordinated work is the Care and Rehabilitation Program that the government of the Mexican State of Chihuahua implements in the 67 municipalities of the State. There, 74 basic and highly specialized units operate to benefit thousands of people. 
In a press conference, Mrs. Bertha Gómez de Duarte, President of the public organism in charge of the integral development of families (abbreviated to DIF in Spanish), in the Mexican State of Chihuahua, explained that the objective of this Rehabilitation Program is to offer disabled people an opportunity of recovery and reinstatement to a better quality of life, after suffering an accident.
This is possible thanks to the agreement established between the Technological University of Chihuahua and the University of Chicago to exchange state-of-the-art technology that permits the development of low-cost prostheses, elaborated with light materials and that are easily adapted.
Together with the Director General of the National Institute of Rehabilitation, Luis Guillermo Ibarra, and the National Director of Rehabilitation of DIF’s National System, Ricardo Camacho Sanciprián, Mrs. Gómez de Duarte informed that 218 prostheses have been given in the two years that the Program has been in force.
Doctor Luis Guillermo Ibarra recognized the Governor of the Mexican State of Chihuahua, César Duarte, for his interest in implementing actions to face one of the rising health problems in the Mexican State of Chihuahua: disability, particularly in people of working age.
He said that the main problem that causes disability is the amputation of the limbs. In Mexico, more than 10,000 new cases of amputations are registered every year.
He pointed out that these cases represent an opportunity of rehabilitation because if the affected people receive integral attention, they can recover and resume their working lives.
Ricardo Camacho Sanciprián, National Director of Rehabilitation of DIF’s National System, informed that this Care and Rehabilitation Program will be replicated in the rest of the Mexican Republic as it has tuned out to be a great success in the Mexican State of Chihuahua.
Moreover, he said that in order to do this, a Training Course for Prosthetists and Orthotists will be done in 10 states of the Mexican Republic during the following months. This training will be supervised by the National Institute of Rehabilitation and Chihuahua’s DIF.
In this press conference, two receptors of lower prostheses, Mr. Carlos Barraza and young Adrián Ramos, talked about their personal experiences and the turn their lives gave when they were able to resume their working and family activities.
PRESS RELEASE