Stakeholders gathered in Awka for a one-day program have called for enhanced awareness about clubfoot deformity to encourage parents with affected children to seek treatment.
During the event, Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, highlighted clubfoot as one of the neglected diseases affecting humanity. He emphasized that Mrs. Nonye Soludo, the wife of the Anambra State Governor, is committed to helping children with clubfoot and is eager to collaborate with event organizers to raise awareness and provide treatment. He urged healthcare workers across the state’s Primary Healthcare Centres to identify and refer children with clubfoot for treatment.
Pharmacist Chisom Uchem, Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, instructed healthcare officers to take sensitization efforts seriously and to screen for clubfoot in newborns delivered at their facilities.
Dr. Anthony Ugezu, Coordinator of the Clubfoot Clinic at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, explained that clubfoot is a congenital deformity causing the ankle and foot to bend inward. He assured that treatment for clubfoot at NAUTH is free, revealing that the prevalence rate in Anambra is one in every thousand births.
Mrs. Cynthia Uchechukwu-Ndive, a mother whose child’s clubfoot was corrected at NAUTH, expressed gratitude for the hospital’s services and urged other parents to seek free treatment at NAUTH Nnewi.
The event also featured lectures on clubfoot, further educating attendees on the condition and its management.
