The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the Ponseti International Association at the University of Iowa (UI), Iowa City, nearly $2 million to increase access to treatment of clubfoot deformity for thousands of children in Peru, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
“This project will help us better understand how to effectively establish high-quality, locally directed, and sustainable clubfoot treatment programs in developing countries,” said Thomas Cook, PhD, professor of occupational and environmental health in the UI College of Public Health and one of the co-investigators for this two-year project. “This grant will broaden the use and understanding of a low-cost, non-invasive, and highly effective method for treating clubfoot-the Ponseti Method,” Cook said.
Before the Ponseti Method was introduced, surgery was the only alternative, an option which is unavailable or financially out of reach for most families in underdeveloped countries. In contrast, the Ponseti Method costs only a fraction as much as surgical treatment and has a much higher success rate (95 percent).
There is no known cause for the condition, and nearly 80 percent of children born with clubfoot live in impoverished countries, said Jose Morcuende, MD, PhD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at UI Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, and chief medical director of the Ponseti International Association.
Edith Parker, DrPH, UI professor and head of the Department of Community and Behavioral Health, director of the Prevention Research Center for Rural Health, and a co-investigator, noted that this project will include assessments of the importance of public awareness campaigns as well as the roles of health administrators, professional societies, government officials, training institutions, financing, and numerous other factors in influencing the adoption of the low-cost, low-tech, clinically more effective treatment approach.
Editor’s note: This story was adapted from materials provided by the University of Iowa.
