Walk for Life – Bangladesh Clubfoot Treatment Programme
The founder of The Glencoe Foundation, Colin Macfarlane, started the Walk for Life clubfoot treatment programme in Bangladesh. Through this project, clubfoot treatment is provided to children born with clubfoot in Bangladesh up to three (3) years of age using the Ponseti Method that does not require invasive surgery.
Walk for Life started piloting in Bangladesh in 2009 by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Following its success, the programme expanded by setting up 34 Walk for Life Clubfoot Rehabilitation Centres across the country. In 2014 the programme was recognised as the National Clubfoot Program of Bangladesh. Walk for Life won the BMJ Award in 2016.
Since September 2019 the programme has been operating through a cost-recovery model with special arrangements for the treatment of clubfoot children from financially poor families.
On June 30 2022, The Glencoe Foundation successfully completed the Walk for Life clubfoot programme in Bangladesh by enrolling more than 30,800 clubfoot children in treatment. From July 2022, responsibility for implementation was transferred to Sancred Welfare Foundation (SWF), which has received approval from the NGO Bureau to run the programme for the next 2 years.
