Pain therapy for children with disabilities

The objective of this project was to establish a Pain Management Unit for children in Sarajevo and to provide professional training for medical personnel as well as supporting scientific research to improve the medical care for children, who suffered from chronic and/or acute pain and to reintegrate into society.

This project was part of a series of projects HOPE’87 implemented in cooperation with the Austrian Development Cooperation, the International Trust Fund as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency in order to establish a countrywide network of pain management and pain therapy facilities for persons with disabilities and pain patients.

The temporary Children’s Clinic in Sarajevo comprised 110 beds, of which 20 were used by the pediatric intensive care unit as well as the neonatal intensive care unit. Children received pain therapy and medical treatment after different surgeries. Most of these children suffered from pain caused by their diseases or disabilities and had to undergo painful diagnostic tests and therapies.

Activities carried out to achieve the project objective comprised trainings and workshops for medical personnel, the purchase of necessary medical-technical therapy equipment as well as monitoring.

Project Background: 

Due to brain drain during the post war period in BiH, there is a lack of a comprehensive, countrywide medical network of pain management for persons with disabilities, pain patients and especially for mine and conflict victims of the war previous war in BiH. The two main problems concerning pain management in BiH are on the one hand the lack of adequate and broad possibilities for pain therapy as well as of psychosocial support for persons with disabilities and pain patients and on the other hand the lack of trained personnel for pain therapy. The situation for children, who suffer from chronic pain is particularly tenuous, especially for children of infantile of early infantile age, who live with a disabilities and/or suffer from chronic pain. This is also shown by the fact that there is no paediatrician, who has special training in the field of pain management with children in Sarajevo so far.