Official calls for sensitisation on club foot
What you need to know:
- The Regional Senior Nursing Officer, Ms Hawa Nyanga, said she was alarmed by the tendency of some parents to hide their affected children, while the condition can be corrected. She this said at an event to mark International Clubfoot Day.
Moshi. A senior public health official in Kilimanjaro region has called for increased public sensitisation on a deformity known as club foot.
The Regional Senior Nursing Officer, Ms Hawa Nyanga, said she was alarmed by the tendency of some parents to hide their affected children, while the condition can be corrected. She this said at an event to mark International Clubfoot Day.
Ms Nyanga said the problem was more acute in the rural areas and called on the local leaders to work closely with health workers to address the problem.
The official explained that the club foot could be cured with surgery. Globally it affects over 200,000 infants annually, about a third of them from the developing countries, including Tanzania.
With reference to data collected within the country at least 3,000 children were found with club foot between 2005 and 2015.
Without proper treatment, people with club feet walk with their ankles or on the sides of their feet.
