Bulgaria: Fundraising for 370,000 euros MS rehabilitation robot

The Bulgarian MS Society is promoting a fundraising initiative to purchase a costly but much needed device for ‘complete rehabilitation of the body’. The robot would become the first of its kind in the country.

‘Lokomat’ is designed for patients with complete or partial loss of mobility functions. It can be used by people with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and cerebral palsy, as well as patients of stroke or brain trauma.

The purpose of Lokomat is to make users walk and move normally again.

Source: ‘Lokomat Bulgaria’ Facebook page

The leader

Bulgarian ophthalmologist Dr Aneliya Hochwarter, who has been living in Austria for 26 years, is behind the initiative. Dr Hochwarter has seen many MS patients with serious mobility problems.

The statistics show that tens of thousands of people with movement disorders currently live in Bulgaria. For many of them, rehabilitation is as important as the costly medical treatment. It can sometimes be the only available treatment.

At present, at national level there are rehabilitation devices only for children up to six years of age.

The costs

The ‘Lokomat’ costs 370,000 euro which includes delivery, personnel training and a three-year maintenance.

By comparison, in Austria, a country similar to Bulgaria in terms of size and population, there currently are 26 such devices.