Nigeria
Contact
Dr. Ekene Isikaku
Senior Program Field Officer, West and Central Africa (Nigeria)Ekene.Isikaku@MiracleFeet.org
Dr. Che Frungwa
Program Field Officer, West and Central Africa (Cameroon)Che.Frungwa@MiracleFeet.org
About our work
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with an estimated 10,107 new cases of clubfoot every year. In cooperation with local partners, MiracleFeet provides comprehensive support to the clubfoot programs including training providers in the Ponseti method and the ACT Curriculum, and supplying MiracleFeet braces. The program uses CAST to monitor and evaluate providers’ treatment quality and educates providers on the importance of monitoring and evaluation and data-driven decision making. Additionally, MiracleFeet works with partners to develop outreach activities including small group presentations and home visits to increase awareness and educate parents about treatment availability.
Partners
In July 2018, MiracleFeet began working with The Straight Child Foundation (TSCF) and Nigeria’s Ministry of Health to improve clubfoot treatment outcomes in the southeastern region. The program started in Abia State before expanding into two additional states, Akwa Ibom and Anambra, in 2019. Most communities across these three states lack easy access to orthopedic care resulting in a high incidence of untreated clubfoot.
In December 2021, MiracleFeet began a new partnership with Health and Development Support Programme (HANDS) to expand support to the Northern part of the country. HANDS programs focus on advocacy, technical support, community mobilization and sensitization, workforce capacity enhancement, monitoring, supervision, and evaluation of activities. They also partner with the governments of Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, and Abuja in various ways and will include clubfoot in these collaborations. One of HANDS’ strengths is using local health agents and community volunteers to deepen parental education. HANDS’ goal is to empower local communities to actively participate in discussions that impact their health and wellbeing which includes children born with clubfoot.
HANDS will work closely with TSCF to integrate clubfoot treatment into the existing public healthcare system thus increase access to reach 70% of children born with clubfoot annually by 2030.
Miraclefeet’s most recent partner in Nigeria is the Positive Care and Development Foundation (PCDF), an indigenous non-governmental organization with a well-established track record of providing technical assistance services in various program areas, including public health interventions and children’s development. Founded in 2008, they are committed to strengthening primary health facilities, community volunteers, and indigenous organizational capacity in Nigeria. Beginning in July 2023, PCDF will work closely with our existing partners, focusing on reaching children with clubfoot in the crucial regions of Kwara and Niger States.
Media Coverage
10,000 Children Born with Clubfoot Yearly (The Guardian, June 4, 2024)
Group seeks better treatment for children with clubfoot (PUNCH, June 4, 2024)
How MiracleFeet’s Data Management App Cast is Changing Medical Landscape (Business Review Afrika, March 8, 2023)
Clubfoot Treatment for Children Continues in UUTH (University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, November, 2022)
Free Comprehensive Clubfoot Treatment (Kogi Reports October 4, 2022)
Nigeria records 9,000 clubfoot cases yearly, says US-based NGO (PUNCH, June 10, 2022)
