Strong hold: Prof Seyi Amosun's contribution to physiotherapy education in Africa was recently recognised by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy.

Professor Seyi Amosun was recently honoured by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) for his contribution to physiotherapy education in Africa.

Amosun received an International Service to the Profession Award at the WCPT's 15th Congress in Vancouver, Canada, in June.

This occasion marked the first time that the WCPT made this and other awards for international service in the areas of physical therapy education, research, practice, and administration and policy development.

Amosun, who heads up UCT's Division of Physiotherapy in the School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, played an integral role in the development of a degree programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), one that enables physiotherapists to upgrade from a diploma programme to a degree in just one year, followed by a one-year master's programme.

Prior to the four-year physiotherapy degree model, therapists in Africa did a three-year diploma, said Amosun.

"The programme's focus is to overcome the major deficiencies in the diploma training programme."

In 2005, 50 physiotherapists from 11 African countries completed the degree. That's adding a hundred more hands to the 5 000 physiotherapists on the continent, according to 2006 WHO statistics. While UWC is still the only university offering this opportunity, it's a start to helping some 50 million disabled Africans, Amosun said.