New paraplegic centre to treat children with clubbed feet

Centre will use the Ponseti method to correct the disorder since it has the highest success rate

PESHAWAR: A modern facility has been built in the provincial capital which will treat children born with clubbed feet for free.

The centre, jointly created by the Paraplegic Center Peshawar (PCP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had been inaugurated by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Interim Minister of Health Akbar Jan Marwat on Tuesday.

Established following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ICRC and the PCP, the ‘Clubfoot Home’ will use the Ponseti method to correct clubbed feet since the method is stated to have a 95 per cent success rate.



This facility is equipped to treat 24 children with clubfoot daily.

“There was a tremendous need for a facility which could offer various services for treating the clubfoot deformity under one roof. The free treatment will benefit thousands of families,” a statement quoted Marwat as saying.

PCP Chief Executive Syed Muhammad Ilyas said that the facility will soon act as a referral centre for complicated cases from clubfoot clinics spread across K-P.

“To ensure uninterrupted treatment, we will offer accommodation and cover the cost of travel for those coming in from far-flung areas,” he said.

ICRC’s Pakistan Delegation Head Reto Stocker stated that they have been focusing on developing local partnerships and promoting best practices in the country, adding that the centre was another example of how the ICRC was reaching out to people in need of humanitarian assistance.

“This strategy has the strength of bringing sustainability to the country’s humanitarian response mechanism,” he said.

As part of its physical rehabilitation programme in Pakistan, the ICRC said that it has established a special clinic in Muzaffarabad called the Physical Rehabilitation Centre. The centre dates back to 2010 to treat children with clubfeet.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2018.