BUDS-UK has delivered 100 pieces of mobility equipment — including standard and reinforced wheelchairs, axillary crutches, and Zimmer-style walking frames — to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. The handover, attended by the Regional Director of Health Services and senior hospital staff, marks the single largest medical-aid donation in BUDS-UK's history.
The equipment will be distributed through the hospital's outpatient and physiotherapy departments to patients identified as being in greatest need, with priority given to people with disabilities, elderly patients living alone, and individuals recovering from major surgery or stroke. A proportion of the wheelchairs has been reserved specifically for use at the hospital's amputee rehabilitation clinic, which sees a high volume of patients each month.
The donation was assembled over six months, drawing on a dedicated medical-equipment appeal supported by donors in the UK and a generous lead gift from Mr. Nesan Markandu. The equipment was procured locally to ensure both fast delivery and full compatibility with the hospital's existing service framework, and to keep procurement money circulating within the local economy.
"For many patients in this district, the difference between having a wheelchair and not having one is the difference between leaving the house and being confined to a single room," said the hospital's chief physiotherapist at the handover. "This donation will change lives — quietly, individually, every day."
BUDS-UK's medical-aid programme continues to focus on the highest-impact, lowest-overhead interventions: equipment, medical camps, and direct support for specific hospital wards.
