This project promotes the Ponseti clubfoot treatment method, a proven, cost-effective and simple technique that corrects congenital clubfoot. In Bangladesh, an estimated 5,000 children a year are born with a clubfoot. Clubfoot is a major cause of poverty, as it results in discrimination and limits educational and earning opportunities. The project aims to provide skills training, develop a curriculum for health care practitioners, establish national guidelines for Ponseti clubfoot treatment, and build local treatment and training capacity. Project activities include treating 25,000 children born with a clubfoot and training 30,000 community health workers and over 20,000 health care students in clubfoot treatment.
The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: Ponseti clubfoot treatment teaching is integrated within Bangladesh’s higher education system; Ponseti clubfoot treatment is integrated within the health care system of Bangladesh; and a Ponseti clubfoot program database is integrated within the data management systems of the local partners.
