21 Doctors, nurses and physiotherapists from different hospitals in Rwanda have accomplished three days training on treatment of clubfoot deformity with Ponseti method held at CCO Rilima Hospital.
The training, which took end on Friday 17th January 2020, was conducted with theme ‘treatment of clubfoot deformity with Ponseti Method.
This training of three days was organized by the “centre de chirurgie orthopedique pediatrique et de rehabilitation, Sainte Marie de Rilima” (CCO Rilima) located in Bugesera District, Eastern Province of rwanda, in Partnership with Centura health, global health initiative and hope walks.
Facilitators of this session: Espérance Uwizeye (Senior Trainer-Hope Walks), Dr Emmanuel Nsengiyumva (Medical Director of CCO Rilima), Dr.Albert Nzayisenga (Director General of CCO Rilima), Jean Claude
Sabin Yannick Nshimiyimana, a nurse at CCO Rilima Hospital said after the training that he gained much from it including the way to treat the disease of Clubfoot using different ways of treating people with disability, the way to treat a child born with disability needing to effectively communicate with their parents.
Jean Claude Habyabyarimana, Program manager of Hope Walks/Rwanda Clubfoot program which is an international organization having siege in the United States of America, and having a branch in Rwanda, has emphasized that this kind of training has come in time when needed and will be the solution in treating children born with disability, diagnosed with clubfoot, whereby nurses and doctors were trained on the proper treatment method named ‘Ponseti’ which is the best way even though it is not widespread yet.
Habyabyarimana said: “We are very happy that during this three-day period: nurses, doctors and physiotherapists have acquired skills on the treatment methods, so children being in that kind should now start going to the hospitals that have the trained individuals so that they may get early treatment and get well in short periods of time, because the disability of clubfoot that they are born with is curable when it is properly treated.”
Dr Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, Senior Trainer Africa Clubfoot (ACT) and Medical Director at CCO Rilima Hospital evoked that CCO Rilima hospital is actually initiated on treating foot-based diseases including the ones that are inborn and the others which come after birth. Dr. Nsengiyumva highlighted that the training was organized in order to increase the number of Rwandans who can treat the inborn clubfoot disease in children.
Dr. Nsengiyumva added that in Rwanda the prevalence of children between 800 and 1000 annually are born with clubfoot. He claimed: “Logically our hospital can’t afford to treat that number of patients alone, so that’s why we have to join hands with other doctors all over the country”.
Dr Nsengiyumva furtherly hinted that such kind of disease, Clubfoot should always be treated in its early stages so that the diagnosed children heal on time and avoid growing up with rampant disability, and that the reason why mainly doctors from different universities were trained and will be able to start from scratch and may secure the future treatment safety.
