Indian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Delhi celebrated World Disability Day

Delhi Chapter of Indian Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation IPARM held a grand event on 8 December to mark the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. A Bike Rally and Wheel-Walkathon 2019 were the highlights of the program that was based on the Theme – ‘The Future is Accessible’.

The event saw the participation of doctors, IPARM members, people with and without disabilities from across Delhi. Most of the members of IPARM are working in the department of Physical medicine and rehabilitation at various prestigious institutes such as the Safdarjung Hospital, AIIMS Delhi, RML Hospital and Kalawati Saran Childrens Hospital and many more.

The presence of several esteemed doctors from various fields made the event a huge success in giving out the message of accessibility and inclusion. The aim of the inclusive event was to create awareness about the abilities of people with disabilities and promoting the idea of a society where they are treated with equal respect, opportunity and dignity.

The bike rally saw the participation of more than 100 bikers who were flagged off by IPARM President Dr B Ramachandran from the Safdarjung Hospital campus. The bikers were people with and without disabilities and included biking groups such as the Divine Rebels Motorcycle Club, Eagle Specially A riders, Bikers Paradise, Bikerni, Delhi Bikers Fellowship, Riders Friends Delhi, Royal Guns Essar, Royals of Delhi, DRER, Punjab bike rider club, Highway rider biking group and Delhi State Wheelchair Basketball Association.

The cold Delhi winter did not deter the bikers and they rode gracefully across the streets catching amazing reactions from the passerby’s.

Dr Amit Ranjan, from Safdarjung Hospital spoke to Newz Hook after the event.

We are really happy that our efforts paid off and the event was a huge success. It is not common to see doctors coming together to raise awareness about people with disabilities and the accessibility challenges they face. It was a wonderful experience to see young as well as experienced doctors becoming the voice of inclusion and stressing on the need for a future that is accessible. Dr Amit Ranjan, Safdarjung Hospital

The bike rally was followed by a ‘Wheel-Walkathon’ and was flagged off by Delhi Medical Association (DMA) President Dr Girish Tyagi. More than 30 wheelchair users and many more walkers took part in the walkathon.

Adding to the glory of the celebration was a performance by the resident doctors of Department of PMR, Safdarjung Hospital. They enacted a streetplay titled ‘Rohan School jayega’ which received thunderous applause from the audience for its touching content and brilliant execution. The play was based on the theme of accessibility and equal opportunities.

The dignitaries attending the event spoke about the valuable contribution of the PMR department as being a department dedicated to integrated management of disability and all its aspects.

“In our society, disabled people are somehow neglected and considered as burden on family and society. If disabled people get adequate medical, social, vocational rehab training, they can reach many heights of success. Our event was organized as a public awareness program to sensitize common people about various aspects disability. The theme for the function was “Future is accessible”. Government is running accessible India campaign. In line of government, we should create accessible, barrier free environment around home, colony, society”, said Dr Harshanand, Physical medicine and Rehabilitation Specialist Safdarjung Hospital.

International Para athlete Suverna Raj, members of the Wheelchair Basketball team Deepak and Abhishek shared their thoughts and experiences about their lives as wheelchair users in an interactive session.

The event was successful as each and every one of the people present at the occasion voiced their support towards creating a better and inclusive society in the future.