The day was set aside to commemorate the birth of Dr Ignacio Ponseti, who initiated the Ponseti Method to treat clubfoot. The event is also meant to raise awareness about clubfoot disability and its prevention using the Ponseti method.
At the ceremony, Ebou Camara, founder of The Gambia Clubfoot Foundation and country director, said the commemoration was held in a form of a seminar meant to raise awareness among people of the availability of free treatment of children in The Gambia born with disabilities and their parents.
"The Gambia started this treatment using Ponseti method to treat clubfoot children fully in January 2019 as a pilot treatment scheme through the support of the Ministry of Health at Kanifing General Hospital and Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital and followed by Brikama District Hospital.
Camara acknowledged that currently, the foundation has facilitated training for 23 Gambian healthcare workers who are providing free clubfoot treatment in 3 clinics in the country.
The team, he added, has successfully treated over 293 clubfooted children in the Gambia within a span of four years all founded by Miracle Feet a charity organisation based in North Carolina, USA.
“Kanifing General Hospital enrolled 127 patients, 48 of them are on brace maintenance. Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital enrolled 108 patients, 44 of them are on brace maintenance, while Brikama District Hospital equally enrolled 58 patients of which 41 are brace maintenance. We have a total of 133 patients currently in brace maintenance."
He spoke of his foundation’s resolve to accelerate efforts to support other hospitals such as Farafenni General Hospital in the North Bank Region to become a clubfoot treatment centre, while plans are also in the offing to train 7 Gambian healthcare workers in basic and advanced Ponseti skills by next week.
“We will start the process of consultation with the team and in partnership with the office of Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health." he stated.
Ebrima Nyassi, assistant country director of The Turkish Corporation and Coordination Agency (TIKKA), said the latter renders assistance to the government of The Gambia after the formalisation of bilateral ties between the Republics of The Gambia and Turkey.
"TIKKA has been in the Gambia since 2018 and has built so many projects in different health sectors. The agency also established the first clubfoot clinic in Brikama and the first oxygen plant at Ndemban Clinic in Bakau."
"Each year up to 200,000 children are born with Clubfoot and it is our responsibility to put efforts together to help in treatment.”
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