Clubfoot

Name of the Project: Clubfoot

Time: Since October 2023

Donor:  Miracle Feet

Project Overview

Since October 2023, MDH has been working with the Ministries of Health (MOH) and The President’s Office Regional Authority and Local Government (PORALG) of both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar to implement the Tanzania Clubfoot Treatment Program.

Clubfoot is a condition present at birth in which a baby is born with one or both fore feet turned inward and downward while the hind part is also bent inward. There is, currently no known cause of the condition, however it is estimated to affect about 3,000nowborn children in Tanzania, 1 for every 1,000 children born alive.

Left untreated, clubfoot deformity can lead to lifelong disability, however timely and effective treatment, using the Ponsenti method, can completely treat Clubfoot, ensuring life free from disability for children born with this condition.

The Tanzania Clubfoot Program aims to provide access to timely and effective treatment of Clubfoot for every affected child across Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. At MDH, the program is implemented under the MDH clubfoot project, which is funded by the Miracle Feet a USA based NGO. The MDH clubfoot project works with and supports 76 clubfoot clinics (2-5 per region) across Tanzania Mainland (72 clinics) and Zanzibar (4 clinics). The clinics are organized into four zones: Northern, Lake and Central, Southern Highlands and Coastal. 

The Activities implemented by the MDH clubfoot project include:

• Awareness raising – the project conducts several activities to raise awareness to the community including radio sessions, village meetings, visits to the public places i.e., markets, bus stops, use of media- radio, tv, social media pages, etc.
• Early detection and referrals where supported clinics visit non-supported hospitals and provide a presentation on clubfoot.
• Advocacy at different levels – the projects work hand in hand with the government to ensure the integration of clubfoot into the national health system.
• Supportive supervision – The senior and well-trained team of supervisors visit the clubfoot clinics quarterly to assess the service provision as well as the quality of the services provided. They also conduct on job training to improve the technical skills of the providers.
• Provision of treatment supplies – The project provides treatment supplies to the partner clinics including plaster of Paris (POP), cotton wool, fiber casts, tenotomy equipment i.e. syringe, lignocaine, povidone and surgical blades.
• Trainings – The project conducts several trainings including Basic Ponseti Course a two days training for providers, Advance Ponseti Course a two days training for providers, Supportive supervision training- two days training, CAST training both basic and refresher trainings two days each, Ponseti refresher training a two days training, tenotomy trainings for medical doctors and Train the Trainer courses to prepare new trainers for the project.
• Fact-finding mission – The project team identifies a potential clubfoot provider and visit them for the aim of establishing a relationship which will eventually result into a new clubfoot clinic if the partner meets the criteria for having a clubfoot clinic.
• Data collection – The clubfoot clinics collect data using mobile phones with the application called Comm care. The data is collected centrally and used for decision making.
• Collaborations with stakeholders treating clubfoot for the aim of utilizing the potential and reach out to more patients.

 Achievements and impact January to December 2024

Key:

Average number of casts per patient- number of casting visits per patient

Tenotomy rate: Frequency of Tendon surgeries.

Cast dropout rate: Frequency of number of patients stopping treatment during manipulation and casting applications

Bracing dropout rate: Frequency of number of patients stopping treatment during the period where they are using special shoes.

 Partnerships.

Guided by our mission, in the Clubfoot project MDH works with diverse Partners across and beyond Tanzania including.

• The MiracleFeet, who fund the project
• The USA river Rehabilitation center (URRC), a project sub-grantee based in Arusha, Tanzania.
• The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), supporting Clubfoot Treatment at Nduta and Nyarugusu Refugee camps in Kigoma.
• 43 Public Hospitals across both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar
• 33Faith based organizations/ hospitals