miraclefeet

Last week in India was filled with extraordinary extremes.  We started at Lady Hardinge Hospital in Delhi, where Cure Clubfoot Worldwide (CCW), has created what they believe to be the biggest clubfoot clinic in the world with more than 700 children enrolled since its inception two years ago.  All counselors were there when we arrived, getting ready to receive the 50 patients they expected that day.  The hospital recently added a second clubfoot day due to numbers, and had seen more than 75 children the day before.

From there we went to the ultra-modern Delhi airport and were immediately transported into a world of air conditioning and global brands.  The contrast serves to illustrate the extremely different worlds that exist within India; a country of rapid economic growth and opportunity, yet home to 49% of the world’s malnourished children (according to an article published in the Times of India three days ago).

Upon landing in Mumbai, we went straight to one of the five hospitals that will house miraclefeet/CCW clubfoot clinics.  Passing decrepit apartment blocks and large areas of slum housing, and with people, rickshaws and wooden carts competing for space on the crowded streets, it was immediately clear that this vast city teems with humanity and poverty. 

The All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation treats complex orthopedic cases from many states and is one of two public hospitals in Mumbai that has been using the Ponseti Method for several years.  Despite this, it was probably the most run down hospital we have visited so far in India.  A number of successfully treated children had been lined up for us to inspect as part of our official visit, but there were also signs that others have not been so lucky, ending up with early surgeries or relapses.  

The hospital is clearly a great candidate for outside support.  Many of the necessary building blocks are in place, including a supportive Director and a number of trained Ponseti doctors.  However, some simple changes in process, plus the addition of counselors, will allow the doctors and residents to improve their outcomes, follow up and tracking capacity dramatically.  Over time, this hospital will be able to make an even bigger dent in the problem of untreated clubfoot in India’s biggest city.

Maharashtra State (population 100M), with Mumbai as its capital, is estimated to have 1,500 new cases of clubfoot each year and approximately 10,000 neglected cases (aged 10 and under).  There is a lot of work to be done to alleviate the misery of untreated clubfoot here, but the Delhi clinics that we visited give us confidence that it will be possible.