Official newsletter of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
Changes in ISPRM Central Office
As the end of 2018 is approaching, it is sadly also time to say goodbye to our current Central Office. ISPRM wants to take this opportunity to thank Louise Gorringe and Linda Bosschers one more time for their ongoing and valuable support to ISPRM over the past years, and we can say that you will certainly be missed! All of us have enjoyed tremendously working with Linda and Louise and give them credit for helping ISPRM organize an efficient Central Office that responded very well to the needs of the organization. They will be remembered as part of the ISPRM family!
As of 1 January 2019, we will be working with a new Central Office, based in Milan, Italy. ISPRM is happy to communicate to our members that we have signed a contract with AIM Group International to manage our Central Office needs. Daniela Pajola will be running the daily operations for ISPRM, with the support of Rosangela Quieti. The new ISPRM team can be reached through isprmoffice@aimgroup.eu. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome both of them to the Rehab team! With the transition currently in progress, we are asking you for your support as the new Central Office gets acquainted.
13th ISPRM World Congress, Kobe, Japan - Call for Abstracts extended
The Call for Abstracts for ISPRM 2019 in Kobe, Japan has been extended until Monday, 7 January 2019, to allow you to still submit your abstract over the coming Holiday period.
Prepare your abstract according to the guidelines & revised Abstract topics list and submit it before 7 January to share your work in Kobe, Japan!
Join the new ISPRM Task Force on Physical Activity for Persons with Disabilities
Globally, 1 billion people live with an impairment that significantly alters daily function. Eighty percent of those with disabilities live in developing countries, where natural disasters and armed conflicts leave 3.5 million refugees and internally displaced people who survive with a physical disability annually. Despite the United Nations’ 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), we know that the right to physical activity and recreation is often denied people who live with a disability.
In response to this problem, the ISPRM is now forming a task force. The aim of the task force is to use a human rights-based approach to study and disseminate up-to-date knowledge related to physical activity in this population. The team may examine issues such as accessibility, affordability, cultural acceptability and sustainability of physical movement for the millions of persons with disabilities.
The proposed task force will build on past ISPRM efforts and connect like-minded professionals to mobilize for change. We appreciate your consideration.
If you are a current ISPRM member, and have interest in joining this group, please contact Dr. Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu on yetsa.tuakli-wosornu@yale.edu.
Committee update -
ISPRM-WHO-Liaison Committee
By Carlotte Kiekens, Chair of the ISPRM WHO-Liaison Committee
Since 1999 ISPRM has held an official relationship with the WHO as a non-State actor and collaborated with the Disability and Rehabilitation (DAR) team. As a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), ISPRM has to contribute substantially to WHO activities according to agreed and accepted collaboration plans, including the participation of ISPRM in WHO meetings and collaboration in the network of WHO partners.
For the last eight years this committee was led by Christoph Gutenbrunner who, with the support of Boya Nugraha as Secretary, did an excellent job. I am very honoured to have been given the opportunity to take over this responsibility since last summer. Furthermore I can announce that very recently we appointed our Colombian colleague Vanessa Seijas as the Secretary to the committee, .
In October we finalized the new collaboration plan (2018-2020) between WHO and ISPRM. This will contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially goal 3 (Health),with a focus on persons with disabilities and persons who have short- or long-term disabling health conditions. The collaboration plan will concentrate on the implementation and dissemination of WHO tools that contribute to the integration of rehabilitation in universal health coverage and to achieving the goals of “Rehabilitation 2030: A call for action”, the WHO Global Disability Action Plan 2014-2021 and the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on improving access to assistive technology.
