For many babies born in developing nations around the world, a simple but fixable birth defect means a life of disability and social isolation.

The crippling defect is called clubfoot.

Now—thanks to a generous donor and a pioneering 93-year-old orthopaedic specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, thousands of children born with clubfoot will receive curative treatment for their deformities.

This remarkable breakthrough stems from a program launched in January 2008 by the UI Ponseti International Association for the Advancement of Clubfoot Treatment.

The Association is conducting a 2008 global training-and-treatment tour in partnership with Christian Blind Mission, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of disabled persons in developing countries.

Orthopaedic specialists from UI and elsewhere are training local health care workers in 10 countries to treat children using the renowned Ponseti Method.

The tour kicked off in Haiti and Laos, and will be followed by trips to Nepal, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Paraguay, and Honduras.

Ignacio Ponseti, MD, developed and practiced the revolutionary non-surgical method in Iowa for over five decades. The technique uses a series of casts, followed by a brace, to correct the defect, which causes a baby's feet to turn inward and downward.

The Ponseti Method is an alternative to surgery, which is expensive and often leaves patients with chronic pain and requiring further operations.

The UI program was launched with a $500,000 gift to the UI Foundation from a North Carolina philanthropist and business leader who supports especially promising global public health projects. The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

An estimated 5,000 children will receive the Ponseti Method of clubfoot treatment and many caregivers will be trained to treat future cases.

Jose Morcuende, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized leader in clubfoot treatment and a UI associate professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, says the Ponseti Method restores normal mobility to children born with clubfoot.

"It can easily be performed not just by doctors but also by nurses, midwives and other health care workers, and because it requires no surgery, it is extremely inexpensive," he says, adding that the 10-country tour is a watershed moment in ongoing efforts to eradicate clubfoot throughout the world."

Ponseti book free online

Access Ignacio Ponseti's "how to" book, Congenital Clubfoot: Fundamentals of Treatment, free online at www.ponseti.info/pia/