The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan is sponsoring a social welfare organization in its collaboration with a Nicaraguan foundation to train burns rehabilitation personnel in Central America, MOFA said July 24.

Under the three-year program, members of the Taipei-based Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation provide training in burn treatment and the production of pressure garments for burn patients, said Wu Rong-chuan, vice chairman of the ministry’s Nongovernmental Affairs Committee.

The Nicaraguan foundation Aproquen, or the Burned Children Care Foundation, has invited the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and other ROC diplomatic allies in the region to send personnel for training, he said.

According to Wu, the Sunshine foundation has mastered pressure garment production technology and can produce tailor-made garments to meet the needs of specific patients. Such clothing helps control scarring, reduce itching and improve the appearance of injured skin. Taiwan plans on transferring the technology in the future, he added.

Burn victim rehabilitation efforts in Nicaragua are quite advanced, Wu said, noting that Aproquen established Central America’s first center for such treatment.

In 2011 MOFA provided approximately US$26,500 for the program. It will contribute NT$1 million (US$33,246) annually over the next three years, Wu said. (SB-THN)

Source: Taiwan Today