article · Global Wound Care Journal
Diabetes-related foot complications cause high rates of illness and death, with most lower limb amputations being preventable through simple foot care, screening, and education. Despite this, healthcare professionals often lack adequate training in diabetic foot care. The Step-by-Step (SbS) Diabetic Foot programme, first implemented in Tanzania and India in 2003, demonstrated a significant reduction in amputation rates, exceeding 50% in Tanzania. Due to its success, D-Foot International launched the Train the Foot Healthcare Professionals programme to scale this initiative globally. This programme trains healthcare professionals from various nations to implement SbS in their home countries, representing a 22-year journey to reduce amputations and mortality worldwide.
This research highlights a proven approach to drastically reduce diabetes-related amputations, which are a major cause of disability and death. By improving healthcare professionals' skills in diabetic foot care, the programme can prevent suffering, save lives, and improve the quality of life for millions of people living with diabetes globally.
This work describes an established and successful educational programme for healthcare professionals focused on diabetic foot care. It is an applied, near-market solution for capacity building within healthcare systems, suitable for adoption by public health organisations, medical training institutions, and non-governmental organisations seeking to implement effective preventative care strategies on a national or regional scale.
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High rates of morbidity and mortality are associated with diabetes-related foot complications, which are on the rise worldwide. Between 40% and 60% of all lower extremity non-traumatic amputations performed globally are on patients with diabetes. Every 20 seconds, a lower limb is lost to diabetes worldwide, yet the majority of these amputations could have been prevented with simple foot care interventions, regular screening and proper education. Despite this urgent need, healthcare professionals remain insufficiently trained in delivering simple yet effective diabetic foot care, leaving patients vulnerable to avoidable amputations. Amputation rates can be decreased by up to 85% by prophylactic measures, close patient monitoring, multidisciplinary treatment of foot ulcers, and education of healthcare staff on proper foot care. The Step-by-Step (SbS) Diabetic Foot programme, which was piloted and implemented in Tanzania and India in 2003, is an example of education. Crucially, the research was linked to a decrease of more than 50% in amputation rates in Tanzania. Due to the success of the programme, there is a growing demand for the adoption of the SbS programme in other countries. D-Foot International launched the Train the Foot Healthcare Professionals programme to overcome the challenges of reaching every country. The goal was to bring trainers from various nations in the region together and train healthcare professionals to execute SbS programmes when they return to their home countries. This paper provides a concise description of this innovative and successful implementation effort. The 22-year journey began in Tanzania in 2003 and culminated in global healthcare professional training, serving as a working model to reduce amputation and mortality.
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DOI: 10.63896/gwcj.1.1.42
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