Global Clubfoot Initiative, an international partnership that includes Seattle-based Mobility Outreach International (MOi), envisions a world where every child born with clubfoot walks free from disability.

1. MOi Contact: Heidi Peterson, MPA, CFRE, CSPG GCI Contact: Beth Capper
T: +1 206 726 1636 | C: +1 206 719 1248 T: +44 7809 44187
E: hpeterson@mobilityoi.org E: beth.capper@globalclubfoot.org
#RunFree2030
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE www.globalclubfoot.com/runfree2030
On World Clubfoot Day, GCI Partners Launch Bold
Global Strategy to End Clubfoot as a Disability
Seattle, WA, USA | June 3, 2017 | Global Clubfoot Initiative, an international partnership that
includes Seattle‐based Mobility Outreach International (MOi), envisions a world where every
child born with clubfoot walks free from disability.
Every year, an estimated 174,000 children in the world are born with
clubfoot, a congenital condition in which one or both feet are turned in and
downward. Through its bold strategy, Ending Clubfoot Disability: A Global
Strategy to 2030, Global Clubfoot Initiative (GCI) members seek to ensure
that at least 70% of these children have access to treatment by 2030.1
Although clubfoot can be effectively and inexpensively treated using the
Ponseti method,2
more than 4 of every 5 children born with the anomaly
in low‐ and middle‐income countries face a lifetime severely affected by
untreated clubfoot, experiencing ongoing pain, limited mobility, as well as
reduced opportunities in education, employment, and relationships.
Currently, less than 15% of children born with clubfoot in low‐ and middle‐income countries have
access to this relatively simple process that would ultimately prevent a lifetime of disability. With access
to the proper treatment, this needn’t be the case. Chris Lavy, Chair of Global Clubfoot Initiative and
Professor of Orthopaedic and Tropical Surgery at Oxford University, said “We do not know how to
prevent clubfoot but we do know how to treat it – and today it costs less than $400 a child. We invite
others to join us to make our vision a reality.”
“This simple, low‐cost treatment has the power to permanently free a child from a lifetime of stigma
and disability,” explains Heidi Peterson, recently named Executive Director of MOi, a governing partner
of GCI with an expanding clubfoot program that currently operates in Haiti, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam.
“By helping local health communities reach sustainability around the issue, this innovative treatment
becomes accessible to children and their families for years to come without reliance from abroad. This
in turn allows MOi to move on to serve other hard‐to‐reach areas of the world where needs are great.”
Dr. Robert Veith, MOi Board President and Medical Director, is thrilled to have Heidi bring her extensive
global humanitarian and public health expertise to MOi. “Heidi’s leadership and strategic vision will
continue MOi’s long tradition of collaboration with local health workers to overcome barriers to
mobility in under‐resourced areas of the world.”
1
By working towards 2030, the Global Clubfoot Strategy aligns with World Health Organization Rehabilitation 2030 Call to Action, the Lancet
Commission on Global Surgery 2030, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
2
When done correctly, the cost‐effective Ponseti method has been proven effective in up to 98% of cases. Given the relatively simple process,
the treatment is well‐suited to low‐resource settings. Mobility Outreach International is a founding member and governing partner of the
Global Clubfoot Initiative (GCI), a consortium of organizations and individuals with the common objective of eliminating the physical
impairment and quality‐of‐life impact resulting from untreated clubfoot using the Ponseti method as the primary treatment.
80%
Eighty‐percent of the
nearly 200,000 children
born each year with
clubfoot worldwide
are born in low‐ and
middle‐income
countries.
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