News Release Archive

DISABLED PERSONS COMMISSION--Calls for Project Proposals
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The Nova Scotia Neurotrauma Initiative was announced today in
Halifax by Health Minister Jim Smith and the Nova Scotia
Neurotrauma Society. The initiative, funded by the Department of
Health and administered by the Nova Scotia Neurotrauma Society,
will provide $100,000 in funding for the 1997-98 fiscal year.

The initiative has been funded in response to a national
challenge by Rick Hansen during the 10th anniversary of his Man
In Motion world tour. 

The objective of the neurotrauma initiative is to support
innovative and effective interventions in the areas of
prevention, rehabilitation and research of traumatic spinal cord
and brain injuries.

Organizations, groups or individuals may submit proposals for
funding. Funding support of up to $10,000 per project for
rehabilitation and prevention initiatives will be considered, and
up to $30,000 will be available for a research project.

The Department of Health estimates that each year in Nova Scotia
approximately 1,152 people sustain serious neurotrauma injuries
to their spinal cords or brains. "We are looking to the community
for solutions to this very serious and costly problem", said Dr.
Smith.

"The human and financial costs of neurotrauma are staggering,"
added Laughie Rutt, executive director of the Canadian Paraplegic
Association and co-chair of the Nova Scotia Neurotrauma Society.
"It devastates mind and body, and has a huge impact on the social
and economic state of survivors and their families."

Medical advances have greatly increased the life expectancy of
survivors. But this fact, combined with the severity and
permanence of neurotrauma and its high incidence of medical
complications, makes neurotrauma one of the most expensive
medical conditions.

"A single survivor's care can cost millions of dollars during a
lifetime with a severe injury," said Alice Dean, a representative
of the Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia and co-chair of
the Nova Scotia Neurotrauma Society.
 
The deadline for receiving research proposals is Nov. 15, 1997,
and the deadline for receiving proposals in the areas of
rehabilitation and prevention is Jan. 15, 1998. Application forms
are available from the Disabled Persons Commission, 2695 Dutch
Village Rd., Suite 203, Halifax, N.S., B3L 4T9. The telephone
number is 902-424-8280 or 1-800-565-8280 within Nova Scotia.

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Contact: Charles Macdonald
         Disabled Persons Commission
         902-424-8280 or 1-800-565-828

ngr                 October 3, 1997                 11:00 am