The CURE International, in association with the Government, has joined hands with the Basaveshwar Teaching and General Hospital here to establish its eighth free clubfoot clinic in the State.
Head of the Orthopaedics Department B.C. Patil said the clinic would be inaugurated in the hospital on January 17.
The clubfoot clinic, which would be open at the hospital every Monday, would have trained doctors and technicians.
As per an estimate, more than 50,000 children are born with the condition every year. In Karnataka, more than 2,500 such children are born every year. If the deformity is not treated in the early stages, the child would have to live with the condition the entire life.
The CURE International and the State Government have already established free clubfoot treatment facilities at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health; Victoria Hospital; St. John's Medical College and Hospital; Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore; VIMS in Bellary; KIMS in Hubli, and BIMS in Belgaum. Clubfoot was a common condition noticed during the birth, and the sooner the treatment was started the easier it was to achieve correction, said Dr. Patil. The current standard care accepted worldwide for the treatment of clubfoot was Ponseti Technique, in which the clubfoot is corrected manually using Plaster of Paris casts.
The comprehensive treatment would be provided for free. The CURE international would provide medical training to doctors on the Ponseti technique. Counsellors would be appointed at the clinic and special shoes would be provided for free.
The CURE International operates in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Kerala. In Bangalore, more than 650 clubfoot children were provided treatment during October last, according to the Karnataka State coordinator of Cure International, Gopi Busanatham.
