RANGPUR, June 5, 2022 (BSS) – Experts at a discussion here today said early treatment can cure the clubfoot problem of babies born with crooked feet to the tune of 5,000 annually in Bangladesh.
 
Treatment of babies born with clubfoot problems should be started as soon as possible after their birth, they said.
 
Walk for Life, a Bangladesh Clubfoot project run by The Glencoe Foundation, organized the event with the support of donor organizations Miracle Fit and Action on Poverty at a private medical college here in observance of the World Clubfoot Day-2022.
 
Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of Rangpur Prime Medical College and Hospital (RPMCH) Dr Shariful Haque Sharif, Social Services officer Md. Nazrul Islam, Physiotherapist of The Glencoe Foundation and Walk for Life project Nazrul Islam Nayeem and President of Parosh Protibondhi Unnayan Sangstha Atiar Rahman addressed the discussion.
 
Dr. Sharif said clubfoot or crooked foot or curved foot is a type of birth defect in a baby's body that can be seen from the time the baby is born.
 
“This defect affects the structure and function of one or more organs of the baby. Children under the age of three are receiving cost-free treatment and medical care through The Glencoe Foundation's Walk for Life project in Bangladesh,” he said.
 
“As many as 30,500 children with clubfoot problems have been treated in the country in the last 14 years from 2009 to May 2022. About 95 percent of them recovered through treatment,” he said.
 
Physiotherapist Nayeem said the government is working jointly with development agencies through different projects to remove disability of children from the country.
 
The treatment is currently being provided free of cost to the poorest clubfoot patients every Sunday and Wednesday at RPMCH in Rangpur.
 
"The service activities have been expanded by setting up Walk for Life Clubfoot Rehabilitation Centers in different districts of the country," he said.
 
Later, the guests cut a cake with clubfoot children to celebrate the day.
 
Food items were also distributed among the poor families of children born with clubfoot problems with financial support of the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).