A new specialised centre for prosthetics, orthotics and physical therapy has been inaugurated in Taiz, Yemen, with funding from the State of Kuwait.
The first phase of the centre was officially opened by Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan on 10 July 2026. The project has a total reported value of KWD 416,000, equivalent to approximately US$1.3 million, and forms part of Kuwait’s continuing humanitarian and healthcare support for Yemen.
Once fully equipped and operational, the centre is expected to give people with limb loss, physical disabilities and rehabilitation needs access to specialist services within Taiz, reducing the need to travel outside the governorate for treatment.
Dedicated facilities for prosthetics and physical rehabilitation
The first phase of the project includes the construction, equipping and furnishing of two principal facilities: a physical therapy unit and a dedicated prosthetics and orthotics unit.
According to the project briefing, both buildings have been developed in accordance with approved technical specifications. The centre is intended to support a more integrated model of rehabilitation in which patients can receive assistive devices alongside therapy, mobility training and continuing clinical support.
For people with amputations, the availability of both prosthetic and physical therapy services at the same location is particularly important.
The provision of an artificial limb normally involves several stages, including:
- Clinical and functional assessment.
- Residual-limb examination and preparation.
- Casting, measurement or digital scanning.
- Socket design and fabrication.
- Selection and assembly of prosthetic components.
- Static and dynamic alignment.
- Gait training and strengthening.
- Education on skin care and device maintenance.
- Follow-up adjustments, repairs and replacement.
Physical therapists also play an important role before and after prosthetic fitting by helping patients improve strength, balance, joint mobility and confidence.
Equipment and workforce preparation remain priorities
Although the first phase has been inaugurated, further work is required before the centre can begin delivering its full range of services.
Governor Shamsan instructed the responsible authorities to accelerate the remaining furnishing work and to complete the transfer and installation of equipment for the prosthetics and physical therapy departments.
He also called for the rapid training and qualification of technical staff so that patient services can begin as soon as possible.
The focus on workforce preparation is significant. A modern prosthetics and orthotics workshop requires more than buildings and machinery. Sustainable service delivery depends on trained prosthetists, orthotists, technicians, physical therapists, rehabilitation physicians and administrative staff.
The centre will need personnel capable of operating fabrication and assessment equipment safely, managing clinical documentation, maintaining components and providing patients with continuing follow-up.
Where local experience is limited, structured training, mentoring and partnerships with established rehabilitation providers may be needed to ensure that the centre can operate to appropriate clinical and technical standards.
Reducing the need for patients to travel
Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan described the centre as an important addition to the governorate’s health sector and said it would help reduce the suffering of people requiring rehabilitation.
A major anticipated benefit is that patients will be able to access specialised services within Taiz rather than facing the expense, physical difficulty and security risks associated with travelling to another governorate.
Travel is particularly challenging for people with recent amputations, mobility impairments or poorly fitting prostheses. A patient may require several appointments during the assessment, fabrication and fitting process, followed by additional visits for gait training and adjustments.
Locally available services can therefore improve more than convenience. They can increase the likelihood that patients complete rehabilitation and return for necessary follow-up.
This is especially important for children, whose prosthetic and orthotic devices must be reviewed regularly as they grow, and for adults whose socket fit may change because of residual-limb volume variation, weight changes or medical complications.
Addressing limited rehabilitation availability in Yemen
The new centre is being established within a healthcare system in which specialist rehabilitation remains limited.
The World Health Organization’s August 2025 Health Resources and Services Availability Monitoring System report found that prosthetics and orthotics services were at least partially available in only a small proportion of the Yemeni health facilities assessed as normally expected to provide them.
The report identified shortages of staff, training, medical supplies, equipment and financial resources among the main barriers affecting the availability of P&O and rehabilitation services.
WHO defines prosthetics and orthotics services as including the manufacture and fitting of devices, together with training patients to use them. Outpatient rehabilitation also includes follow-up care and the provision or maintenance of assistive devices.
These definitions highlight why the Taiz project must be viewed as more than a construction programme. Its success will depend on whether it can deliver a complete and continuing pathway of care.
Importance of a functioning prosthetics workshop
The prosthetics and orthotics unit will require suitable workshop infrastructure for the production, adjustment and repair of devices.
Depending on the services planned, equipment may include:
- Casting and rectification tools.
- Workbenches and plaster facilities.
- Ovens and vacuum-forming systems.
- Grinding, sanding and polishing machines.
- Alignment and assembly equipment.
- Sewing and finishing tools.
- Digital scanners and computer-aided design systems.
- Gait assessment and parallel-bar facilities.
- Secure storage for components and raw materials.
Reliable supplies of prosthetic feet, knees, pylons, adapters, socket materials, resins, thermoplastics, foams, straps and consumables will also be required.
In humanitarian and conflict-affected settings, maintaining a dependable supply chain can be difficult. The centre will therefore need stock-planning systems, preventive maintenance procedures and access to replacement parts to avoid interruptions in service.
Follow-up care will determine long-term impact
The opening of a new centre can quickly increase the number of devices delivered, but the long-term value of the investment will depend on outcomes after fitting.
Patients must be able to return when a prosthesis becomes uncomfortable, damaged or unsuitable. Without follow-up, even a technically well-produced device may eventually be abandoned.
Children require regular replacement or adjustment as they grow. Adults may need new sockets, liners or alignment changes, while people using knee joints and other mechanical components require periodic inspection and maintenance.
The centre will also need a referral network linking hospitals, surgical teams, community organisations and disability groups across Taiz.
Clear referral pathways can help identify patients early, prepare them appropriately for prosthetic fitting and connect them to community-based support after discharge.
Supporting civilians affected by conflict, accidents and disease
Demand for prosthetic and rehabilitation services in Yemen comes from multiple sources.
Conflict-related injuries have resulted in traumatic amputations and other complex disabilities among civilians and combatants. Road traffic accidents, occupational injuries, congenital conditions, diabetes and vascular disease also contribute to the need for prosthetic, orthotic and physical rehabilitation services.
The new centre could therefore serve a broad patient population, including:
- People with upper- or lower-limb amputations.
- Children requiring orthoses or mobility support.
- Patients recovering from fractures and traumatic injuries.
- People affected by stroke or neurological conditions.
- Individuals with spinal cord injuries.
- People requiring post-surgical rehabilitation.
- Patients with diabetic foot complications.
- Older people experiencing reduced mobility.
To respond effectively, the centre will need multidisciplinary care plans based on each patient’s medical condition, environment, goals and available family support.
Kuwaiti support for Yemen’s health sector
The project reflects Kuwait’s wider humanitarian contribution to Yemen.
By funding specialist rehabilitation infrastructure, Kuwait is supporting an area of healthcare that often receives less attention than emergency medicine but is essential to long-term recovery.
For a person who survives a serious injury or amputation, emergency treatment is only the beginning. Rehabilitation determines whether that person can regain mobility, return to education or employment and participate independently in family and community life.
Investment in prosthetics, orthotics and physical therapy can therefore produce lasting social and economic benefits beyond the immediate clinical outcome.
A significant opportunity for Taiz
The Taiz Prosthetics and Physical Therapy Centre has the potential to become an important rehabilitation hub for the governorate.
Its two dedicated units could create a coordinated pathway from assessment and device production through to therapy and long-term follow-up. It may also provide new employment and training opportunities for Yemeni prosthetists, orthotists, technicians and therapists.
The immediate priority will be to complete the equipment installation, recruit and train the required workforce and begin serving patients.
Longer-term success will require continuing operational funding, effective management, reliable supply chains, quality-control systems and close cooperation with hospitals and disability organisations.
If these elements are sustained, the Kuwait-funded centre could significantly improve access to prosthetic, orthotic and rehabilitation care for people across Taiz.
- Yemen Monitor: Kuwait-supported prosthetics and physical therapy centre opens in Taiz
- World Health Organization: Rehabilitation
- WHO: Prosthetics and orthotics services
- WHO standards for prosthetics and orthotics
- WHO Health Resources and Services Availability Monitoring System
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Yemen
- Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development