The Africa AgrAbility staff, friends, and partners were hugely disappointed by the forced cancellation of the first AgrAbility for Africa workshop due to Covid-19-related shutdown; but the good news is, the workshop has been rescheduled to take place in June 2023 in Entebbe, Uganda. The event should provide a great opportunity to be together, visit Africa, benefit from a very diverse range of rehabilitation and assistive technology experiences, and learn from each other, all while improving inclusive and rehabilitation health care and assistive technology service access for rural farming communities faced with disabilities across Africa.
Data is lacking on the actual figures of diabetes-related amputations, but visits to clinics and communities show a high prevalence rate of amputations in Uganda and other sub-Saharan Africa countries. To reverse the situation, AgrAbility for Africa staff is intensifying education and support for diagnostic services access in order to prevent severe consequences of complications - among which is the risk of lower limb amputation. Lower limb amputation not only causes major disfigurement, but renders people less mobile and at risk of loss of independence.
Submitted by Mutumba Faisal