The U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) https://www.usaid.gov has awarded $39.5 million to the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University https://www.jhsph.edu financied by USAID.
The funding will address the estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide in need of physical rehabilitation services which includes appropriate Assistive Technology (AT).USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund.
The project Rehabilitation in Health Systems ( ReLAB-HS) is going to drive significant change in the physical-rehabilitation sector through improved and innovative service-delivery models, workforce capacity building, and produce extensive data and research capabilities.
ReLAB-HS is a consortium of international partners with extensive expertise in health networks implementation science, innovation in service-delivery, and training workers in physical rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (AT) in more than 70 countries worldwide.
ReLAB-HS activities will target the development and integration of physical rehabilitation and AT into public and private health networks, by augmenting national governance and financing capacities, training healthcare providers, and increasing access to essential care, services, and innovative technologies.
The ReLAB-HS project will especially help the millions of people in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) especially countries that are emerging from conflict, so they will have access to high quality sustainable services which is needed to meet the growing need for physical rehabilitation.