President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said clubfoot has to be defeated “like a mission” on the lines of polio and smallpox.
Speaking at the inauguration of Global Clubfoot Conference in the national capital, Kovind said: “By 2022, every child born with clubfoot should get access to treatment services.”
“We have to treat defeating clubfoot like a mission – as was the case with polio or earlier smallpox,” he added.
“We owe it to the next generation to remove clubfoot from our list of public health challenges,” he said further.
Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inwards and downwards.
According to a 2016 report, India registers almost 50,000 cases of Clubfoot children every year. . Often confused with polio, it is one of most common birth deformity in the country.