When individuals are injured in conflict zones and lose a limb, fitting a prosthetic and undergoing physical rehabilitation is only one part of their journey toward recovery. Equally important, yet often overlooked, is the need to support the amputee’s psychosocial well-being. Addressing emotional resilience, mental health, and social reintegration is essential to helping survivors truly rebuild their lives.

In conflict zones, access to healthcare is often limited, and those who have suffered limb loss face severe challenges, this is where The Mobile Amputee Socket Unit (MASU) comes in. MASU’s are a road-mobile prosthetics unit designed to deliver safe, high-quality fitting, rehabilitation, and follow-up care close to patients, while strengthening local capabilities. They are not just mobile clinics, but a tool to reach victims and patients in dangerous zones where hospitals are hard to access, so that amputees get fitted and have access to rehabilitation from any location. This innovation provides a solution to a problem that has long existed and that has affected the lives of many people. It helps bring specialized prosthetic care directly to patients while building local capacity for long-term impact.

In conflict zones, populations face numerous humanitarian challenges, such as the lack of necessities – food, water, shelter, and safety – affecting their daily life. One often overlooked challenge people face is the critical need for prosthetics and rehabilitation services. In times of war and conflict, healthcare institutions and systems are overwhelmed with injured people seeking medical care. Individuals who underwent an amputation as a result of war-related trauma, are more often than not, left without the needed access to proper devices and support that will help them regain their mobility, independence and dignity. In such cases, NGOs play a life changing role in providing the required assistance.

In conflict zones, the world often focuses on addressing immediate humanitarian needs like water, food, and shelter. However, there should be a more nuanced perspective on the thousands of individuals with disabilities living under such conditions. Whether living with disabilities unrelated to war or a catastrophe, or disabilities that occurred as a result of war, the right to mobility should be discussed as a priority.