Afghanistan: Building crutches, walkers and stretchers from scratch
MSF technicians are finding innovative ways to support patients at Kunduz Trauma Center in northern Afghanistan.
The Kunduz Trauma Center in northern Afghanistan sees an average of more than 1,000 patients a month seeking urgent, trauma-related care. Many patients who have experienced the loss of a limb face financial hardship, making it difficult to afford the mobility aid devices they may need.
To help respond to their needs, teams of technicians with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are finding innovative ways to create medical and non-medical devices from scratch to help trauma patients in northern Afghanistan recover and regain mobility.
Filling gaps for mobility assistance
“As this is a trauma centre, there is a regular need for walkers and other medical materials,” says Shir Mohammad, the infrastructure supervisor at Kunduz trauma centre. “When the medical team needs anything, we design the required equipment and solve the problem.”
Items produced by the MSF team include crutches, walkers and even a stretcher that reduces the noise and vibration for patients when they’re being transported through the hospital. The team also recently created a spica table, which is used for patients with bone fractures to help align their bones when putting them in a cast.
“Previously, we had a supplier from whom we’d purchase the crutches. But now the cost is significantly reduced. The crutches we build here in MSF are around 50 per cent less than the market price.”
Shir Mohammad, the infrastructure supervisor at the Kunduz trauma centre
Robust production helps reduce operational costs
Since 2023, the team has built an average of 20 to 30 pairs of crutches and walkers every week, using locally available materials. The crutches are then given to physiotherapists to distribute for free to patients in need.
Not only has this system provided free mobility aid devices essential for patients’ recovery, but it has also helped reduce MSF’s medical costs.
“Previously, we had a supplier from whom we’d purchase the crutches,” says Mohammad. “But now the cost is significantly reduced. The crutches we build here in MSF are around 50 per cent less than the market price.”
The logistics team is kept busy, with 32,628 patients being seen in the emergency room and 23,217 outpatient consultations conducted by MSF medical teams in 2024.
Mobility aids are a valuable community resource
With hundreds of crutches made locally in the last few years, Mohammad says he often sees people in the community using those built by the MSF logistics department in Kunduz.
One such person is Mohammadullah, a farmer from the Khan Abad district in Kunduz province. In April, he was riding his motorcycle when he collided with a car, breaking his left leg. He had urgent surgery at the Kunduz trauma centre and has been coming regularly for follow-up appointments and physiotherapy sessions since then.
However, Mohammadullah hasn’t been able to work or even return to his farm since the accident happened.
“I want to walk again. I’m the only man in my family and they need me. I want to return home,” he says.
Mohammadullah said the physiotherapists gave him the crutches when he was discharged, instructing him to avoid putting pressure on the broken leg.
“In the market, crutches cost around 1,000 Afghani (roughly $19),” says Mohammadullah. “It’s good that MSF provides them for free. We will return them to the hospital after recovery.”
Mohammad says it warms his heart when he creates something that helps patients and meets the needs of the medical team.
“One of our main objectives is to serve our patients and our people in any way we can,” he says. “If we have the ability to help others, we must do it.”
Our work in Kunduz, Afghanistan
MSF has been operating a trauma centre in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan since 2011. On Oct. 3, 2015, the hospital was destroyed by a U.S. airstrike. The new trauma centre opened in a different location in August 2021, providing comprehensive life- and limb-saving care for patients suffering from traumatic injuries, including those resulting from road traffic accidents, falls, gunshot wounds, unexploded ordnance and others. In 2024, MSF medical teams saw 32,628 patients in the trauma centre’s emergency room, provided 23,217 outpatient consultations and performed 4,742 surgical interventions.
