The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) is a multidisciplinary organization comprising people with professional interest in the clinical, educational, and research aspects of prosthetics, orthotics, rehabilitation engineering, and related topics. ISPO has more than 2,500 members in some eighty nations around the globe; its permanent secretariat is in Copenhagen, Denmark.

USAID’s support for ISPO through the Leahy War Victims Fund began in 1995 with a grant for a conference on appropriate prosthetic technology. The conference brought together more than 100 rehabilitation experts who discussed how best to use resources and measure effectiveness in developing country programs. The conclusions and recommendations reached at that conference set standards used around the world today.

Since the project's inception, the LWVF and ISPO have collaborated on several interrelated projects. The organizations evaluated and field-tested commonly used prosthetic and orthotic (P&O) technologies and techniques, developed protocols and tools to measure the costs of rehabilitation, and monitored and evaluated programs. The results of that body of work enable the LWVF to better analyze project funding requests and evaluate the impact of its programming.

Through the LWVF, USAID currently funds two International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics activities:

Education and Training of Prosthetics-Orthotics Professionals

Implementing Partner: International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO)

Funding Period: September 2008 – September 2013

Amount: $3,682,862

Purpose: Facilitate the rehabilitation of people with physical disabilities in developing countries.

Objectives

• Award scholarships for education and training for 110 persons in the profession of prosthetics and/or orthotics. Scholarships will be broken down into thirty-two Category I Prosthetic and Orthotics Professionals (prosthetists-orthotists) and seventy-eight Category II Prosthetics and Orthotic Professionals (orthopedic technologists). The project actively recruits women and people with disabilities to participate in the program.
• Gauge and document the impact of the above-mentioned educational programs on people who have received services from P&O professionals whose training was facilitated by ISPO. ISPO will use community-based workers to follow up on treatment cases to ensure that orthopedic devices are working properly and in good repair.
• Work in partnership with the World Health Organization on its global campaign to foster the integration of prosthetics and orthotics with community-based rehabilitation and to enhance P&O service provision and accessibility worldwide.

Development of Educational Activities in Prosthetics and Orthotics in Low-Income Countries

Implementing Partner: International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO)

Funding Period: September 2000 – September 2010

Amount: $5,524,660

Purpose: Strengthen rehabilitation in the developing world through education and technical guidance to professionals, agencies, and nations.

Objectives

• Strengthen prosthetics and orthotics teaching programs by upgrading teachers and teaching material, and provide scholarships for over fifty professionals to be trained to internationally recognized standards
• Test several major prosthetic component designs, as well as a sand-casting technique for prosthetic sockets. Publish the results to strengthen and enhance the quality and quantity of devices available to people in need
• Design and field-test a cost-calculation program and tool so that NGOs can better plan and implement rehabilitation programs
• Design and field-test a monitoring and evaluation program and tool to enable local and international organizations to better manage and measure the impacts of rehabilita­tion programs

Under this initiative, the LWVF and ISPO collaborate to strengthen the quality of educational programs providing prosthetic and orthotic training and to increase the number of professionals qualified to provide appropriate services. Orthopedic technologists have their education upgraded to the university level at Tumaini University, Tanzania, in order to undertake leadership, development and teaching activities in their home countries. National staff receive internationally accredited training through five schools based in Colombia, El Salvador, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

In addition, the program provides training for teachers, school exchange programs, and improved educational materials.

Finally, ISPO participates in yearly examinations and at regular intervals scrutinizes the teaching programs and inspects the schools in order to ensure that programs meet international standards.