The ultimate goal of this project was to train an initial group of 50 Ethiopian physiotherapists in the Tigray Region, Ethiopia on the use of Neuro Muscular Taping.
The Ethiopian project is a collaboration established among the Fondazione Butterfly ONLUS, the Mekelle Orthopedic and Physiotherapy Centre, Tigray Region, Ethiopia and David Blow of the NMT Institute.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated the about 15% of the world’s population in low-income countries are people with disabilities, which suggest that the number of people currently with disabilities in the Tigray region is around 647,168 form the current population of 4.314,456 with around half being children and young people.
Mekelle Orthopedic and Physiotherapy Centre (MOPC) is a local non-profit, non-political & non-governmental organization established in 1992, administrated under the umbrella of Tigray Disabled Veterans Association (TDVA). The major purpose and mission of the organization are to rehabilitate the physically disabled population of the Tigray region and nearby regions. Tigray has been the most affected region by the decades of war and famine, which resulted in a higher degree of disabilities compared to other regions of the country.
Pediatric neurological and club foot program.
The pediatric environment is the most and severely affected in terms of healthcare and rehabilitation. Difficulties at birth, such as ischemia and neonatal suffering, can lead to permanent and irreversible issues. In light of this, the science of rehabilitation must deal with the various types of motor difficulties with appropriate and ongoing therapies during the child’s growth and throughout the life of the patient. The particular therapeutic action of NeuroMuscular Taping as a decompressive treatment for muscles provides important results in the pathology of muscle retraction and muscle spasticity observed especially in children with cerebral palsy
Ethiopian training program AFRICA NMT 2015
The objective has been the one to create rehabilitation training and follow-up training to facilitate ongoing local rehabilitation needs. The first program has already been successfully carried out as from January 23rd till February 1 st at two Hospitals in Mekelle and at the MOPC disabled people Centre.
The high presence of local physiotherapists and nurses attending the training courses confirmed the interest in such a brand new rehabilitation practice in Ethiopia and the results achieved on some treated patients gave evidence of the positive effects of the same.
Patients with strokes and amputations dating back many years had in any case positive feedbacks in a few hours following the application of NMT tapes.
The program included four days of theoretical and practical training and four days of NMT direct application on local patients at the MOPC centre and Mekelle hospitals. Special care has been dedicated to clubfoot therapy where NMT application has been confirmed to be sound support to Ponseti treatment.