To mark the occasion, a podiatrist from the Centre for Endocrinology and Diabetes, in South Africa, will be holding consultations from 18 to 25 June 2009.
The objectives of the Foot Care Clinic are to provide:
- Routine foot assessment to identify those at risk of ulceration
- Education of patients in self management and foot hygiene
- Foot care (such as callus, corns, nails trimming, etc.)
- Wound care
Ongoing foot care will be provided at APSA by 2 trained nurses under the guidance of a local podiatrist.
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On the 10th and 11th September, APSA was visited by Dr. Lynne Tudhope, a vascular surgeon with a special interest in the diabetic foot and chronic ulceration of the lower limb. She was joined by a team of 2 podiatrists, a registered nurse specialised in wound care and a TCPO2 technician from Montana Hospital, Pretoria.
During those 2 days, the foot care team was able to attend to 24 patients, presenting mainly chronic foot ulcerations.
APSA’s objective is to promote a multidisciplinary care team approach in order to bring excellence of care to the patient and help avoid the fatality of amputation. Since its opening in June 09, the APSA foot care team have been able to see 500 people with diabetes for foot assessments, and is presently following 30 patients with chronic ulcers.
In the World:
• 85% of foot amputations are preceded by foot ulcers
• 40 to 70% of lower limb amputations are linked to diabetes
• Every 30 seconds someone loses his leg because of diabetes W.H.O. (World Health Organization) and the IDF (International Diabetes Federation) state that 50% of foot amputations could be avoided through education, early foot assessment, and proper care.
In Mauritius:
"These sequelae of peripheral vascular disease and diabetic neuropathy lead to
lower limbamputations. Latest statistics reveal about400 amputations peryear.It costs an average of about Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 for each amputated limb depending on the duration of the hospital stay, and there is still no effective podiatrist service or any diabetic Foot Care Clinic locally."
(Ministry of health and Quality of life, “The National Service Framework for Diabetes” (NSFD), A Ten Year Programme. Mauritius, March 2007).
