COPE Laos

Since bombing missions ended in 1973, over 20,000 people in Laos have been killed or injured by UXO incidents. Many are amputees who require medical, rehabilitative, and social care for the rest of their lives.

Victims include children who mistake UXO for toys, farmers who accidentally detonate devices when striking the ground with farm tools, and families cooking meals outdoors when the heat from fires causes UXO to explode.

UXO survivors make up nearly one-third of COPE’s prosthesis patients.

COPE helps people with disabilities access orthotic and prosthetic devices, quality treatment and rehabilitation programs, which improves their capacity to participate in their communities and improves their quality of life.

COPE runs a mobile clinic that assesses new patients in regional and remote areas, repairs prosthetics, advises on stump and device care, distributes devices like crutches, provides physiotherapy assessments and advice, and refers patients to rehabilitation centres as needed.