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Ashtead Doctor Sets up Charity to Help Children in Zanzibar

TrainingA HARLEY Street doctor has created a new charity dedicated to treating children with club feet in Zanzibar.

Dr Charlotte Hawkins, of Paddocks Way, Ashtead, founded the Infant Club Foot Appeal after visiting the island, off the east coast of Africa.

Every month more than 50 Zanzibari children are born with the congenital condition, which causes the lower leg and foot to twist.

Dr Hawkins said: "Because they can't stand up they crawl around on the floor and end up with ulcers on their legs which get infected, and those that don't die are permanently crippled.



"Without treatment their life expectancy is pretty grim."

Dr Hawkins is a fellow of the Royalty Society of Medicine specialising in lower limb abnormalities in children, so when a colleague put her in touch with a volunteer working on the island she was eager to help.

She said: "I had a phone call with her and went for a cup of coffee. Of course I said OK, and paid for my own flight to go out there and see what I could do.

"I took nine cases of plaster and orthopaedic boots, as much as I could carry, but I had no idea what I was going into. What I found was absolutely awful."

She was so shocked by her first visit, in October 2010, that she decided to create the Infant Club Foot Appeal, and on March 13 this year it became a registered charity.

Treating
Dr Hawkins visits the island once or twice a year to train local technicians in the Ponseti technique, a simple procedure using a series of plaster casts to gradually straighten limbs.

She said: "With this particular treatment you can leave them to do it themselves and really they are fantastic guys. When you are training them they hang on every word.

"They want to fix their population and this is really empowering them to get rid of a disability that is rife in their community."

The procedure costs just £20 per leg, but Dr Hawkins says it is difficult to ensure patients keep up the regular treatment needed.

She said: "We found a lot of children had not returned for treatment, and we found it was because the families couldn't afford the bus fare back to the clinic.

"I asked how much it was and it was £1.50 return, so I just took the money out of my bag and said 'here, this is now the transport fund'."

The charity costs between £1,000 and £2,000 a month to run. Dr Hawkins, who works from a practice in Harley Street in London, would be delighted to hear from anyone who can help with funds.

Visit www.infantclubfootappeal. org or call Dr Hawkins on 07970 845451 for information.

Source: http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk

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