3,700 kids in Maha risk permanent disability to clubfoot every year

Dr Rujuta Mehta said though 50,000 children are born with clubfoot in India, there is an lack of awareness about the Ponseti method to cure the defect.

Lack of awareness related to clubfoot disease — a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inwards and downwards — puts more than 3,700 children at risk of permanent disability every year in Maharashtra, said doctors from BJ Wadia Hospital’s clubfoot clinic in Mumbai.

Doctors from BJ Wadia Hospital in Mumbai and a few of the children they treated, recently observed Clubfoot Day. (HT photo)

The clinic, one of the few that specialises in the diseases, has treated 1,102 paediatric clubfoot patients with 95% success rate inthe past seven years. If untreated, the defect forces children to walk on the side of the foot and grows into a functional disability.

Dr Rujuta Mehta, head of department for paediatric orthopaedics, who heads the clinic, said though 50,000 children are born with clubfoot in India, there is an lack of awareness about the Ponseti method to cure the defect. The breakthrough treatment has 95% success rate.

“The exact causative mechanism (of the disease) is still unknown,so it can’t be prevented. Lack of awareness regarding the need for early intervention is one of the principal reasons for late presentation and neglect in our country,” she said.

“The clubfoot clinic was a joint venture between Bai Jerbai Wadia hospital for children, Mumbai, and CURE International India Trust in 2011. In the past 7 years, 1,102 children received quality treatment at the clinic and we would like cure more kids with the defect.”

The hospital recently celebrated Clubfoot Day with its patients by organiing a magic show and other fun activities to spread awareness about the defect.