CBM laments passing of clubfoot pioneer

CBM is a Christian disability charity which supports around 16 million people around the world. It said around a quarter of its physical disability work was with clubfoot sufferers.

The 'Ponseti method' has enabled CBM surgeons to transform the lives of children with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world. The treatment now widely used around the world has become the 'gold standard' for clubfoot treatment, with success rates as high as 98 per cent.

Dr Ponseti died at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on Sunday at the age of 95. His death followed a sudden illness.

"Tens of thousands in the world today owe their mobility to Dr Ponseti," said Dr Bill McAllister, the head of CBM UK.

The Ponseti method involves a weekly programme of gentle manipulation and plaster casting, and is particularly effective in children under two years of age.

A £30 donation to CBM can give a child with an early case of clubfoot corrective treatment using the Ponseti Method.

Steve Mannion, an orthopaedic surgeon with CBM, introduced the Ponseti method in Malawi. Today every child born with club foot in Malawi has early local access to effective treatment due to a national clubfoot treatment programme being started.

The success of the Malawi programme has led to CBM introducing similar programmes in other countries including Ethiopia, Laos, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea.

"CBM leads the world in treating club foot disability. Based on our success in applying the Ponseti method in Malawi, we are introducing it into other developing countries. It has become the gold standard of treatment in Africa," said Mr Mannion.

"It is more effective than treating club foot with surgery. It does not need to be done by doctors - it can be applied by health workers but they need to be supported as they go through a learning curve."

Clubfoot is the most common serious deformity affecting children. In the UK it occurs in one in 1,000 births. In the developing world there are up to six per 1,000 births.