The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Free treatment for club-foot

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Saturday, Jun 14, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Free treatment for club-foot

Special Correspondent

Public-private initiative launched for children with the deformity

1,500 children are born with club-foot in State each year
Remedial project is called ‘Hejje Guruthu’

BANGALORE: Minister for Women and Child Development P.M. Narendra Swamy on Friday said that Karnataka would be made a “club-foot-free State” in five years.

Participating in the launch of “Hejje Guruthu,” a joint project of the State Government and Sparsh Hospital to provide free treatment to children with club-foot, Mr. Swamy said 1,500 children are born with club-foot in the State each year.

As poor families cannot afford treatment, children with club-foot grow into physically challenged adults. Therefore, the Department of Women and Child Development and the Department of Physically Challenged and Senior Citizens Welfare will bear the expenditure for the treatment of such children. The Government will release Rs. 15,000 each for corrective procedures and the balance will be borne by donors. Besides, the department will identify children with club-foot, Mr. Swamy said.

Explaining features of the new project, Sparsh Hospital chairman Sharan S. Patil said children with club-foot would be treated using the Ponseti technique, a serial plastering procedure. The treatment had shown a 95 per cent success rate in young club-foot patients. The procedure required minimal surgery. The goal was to make the Ponseti treatment available to all affected infants across the State. Already 180 children had been treated using the Ponseti technique at Sparsh Hospital, he said.

Over 100 medical professionals from across the State would be trained at the club-foot treatment centre at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore. Using the Government network, awareness would be created among healthcare workers, anganwadi employees and Stree Shakti groups on how to detect club-foot and the availability of appropriate treatment, he said.

Sparsh Hospital has already set up the training and treatment hub. Training materials have been developed and J.S.S. Medical College and the S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences, Davangere, have been inducted as initial partners. The project will be extended to 12 districts by the end of 2008, and more partners will be inducted. All the partners involved in the treatment of club-foot will take digital pictures and mail them to the monitoring system at Sparsh Hospital, where the results will be assessed and monitored, Dr. Patil said.

Transport Minister R. Ashok, who launched the new initiate, said the project had been aptly named “Hejje Guruthu” (footprint).

Shalini Rajneesh, Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, and Chittaranjan, Director, Department of Physically Challenged and Senior Citizens Welfare, were present.

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