India: Decade-long partnership with CURE India concludes successfully
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” said Santhosh George, director of CURE International India Trust (CURE India), recognizing the contribution of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to clubfoot treatment and support in making them self-sufficient.
The ICRC’s team visited CURE India’s office on 30 January 2025 to mark the formal conclusion of a ten-year partnership between the two organizations. The partnership was established in 2015 to provide clubfoot treatment services in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh. The key areas of this partnership were capacity-building for doctors and counsellors, and resource mobilization.
Testifying to the impact of CURE India’s quality services, a patient’s parent said, “We were petrified when our daughter was born with twisted feet. We were referred to the clubfoot clinic at St Stephen’s Hospital in New Delhi where she received the right treatment, preventing her from being disabled for life. She is now able to run, play and go to school just like any other child.”
A group photo of people at an event, where the head of the ICRC’s regional delegation in New Delhi hands over a memento to the director of CURE India, marking the successful conclusion of a decade-long partnership between the two organizations.
CURE India began its activities in 2009 with the goal of eradicating disability caused by clubfoot in the country. Partnering with various state governments, the organization provides services through district hospitals and medical colleges.
It has helped over 1,12,000 children through 440 weekly clubfoot clinics in all the states and training more than 9,300 doctors in the Ponseti method of clubfoot management in 138 training programmes over the last 15 years.
Recently, the organization also partnered with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to increase access to clubfoot services. The ICRC contributed to this sustainable model by ensuring quality treatment and providing braces for children as part of its Physical Rehabilitation Programme.
