About Us

Our Mission

Our mission is to assist medical communities around the world in optimizing foot and ankle health. We seek to educate physicians and patients on holistic and sustainable solutions in order to treat foot and ankle pathologies.

Our Value

The feet are complex structures containing nearly 25% of the body’s bones. Ailments impacting the feet will likely affect ambulation, requiring a great amount of care from health workers and family members. Effective preventative and palliative care minimizes the toll on patients and the community.
According to the International Diabetes Federation: “Foot problems account for up to 15% of healthcare resources in developed countries. In developing countries, it has been estimated that foot problems may account for as much as 40% of the total available resources.”
In addition to diabetes, many other systemic disorders manifest in the lower extremities. Common medical conditions including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, and others have a tremendous impact on the feet. Congenital disorders such as clubfoot may be treated successfully with modalities such as the Ponseti method.

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Our Vision

Several factors may contribute to increased foot and ankle complications such as age, activity level, occupational and environmental factors, and access to hygiene. As such, an optimal foot and ankle program should also involve a holistic evaluation of the patient population. We are proud to say that FootAid programs are equipped to address all these needs.

Medical Malpractice Concerns

For those providers who are forced to face malpractice concerns in their practice in the United states a few things should be understood:

“No malpractice claim has ever been filed against any American health care worker providing humanitarian services without charge in the developing world.”(1) The malpractice risk is almost nonexistent as long as the practice is limited to the indigenous population and that care is provided free or at minimal charge.
The only documented malpractice against american physicians in the developing world is the care of “western” patients in “for profit” health centers and hospitals.
There is a small civil liability noted in the developing world. This only involves traffic accidents and accidental injury and death when American health care workers are involved in an incident in a non-medical capacity.
In 2003 a study was done that found that not one volunteer or missionary agency provides malpractice insurance, as coverage of this type in simply not available.

“To summarize, Americans travel and carry their malpractice mentality with them even though malpractice is not an issue in the country where they are traveling. The malpractice liability is in providing care for Americans traveling or living overseas, and charging for those services. There appears to be minimal to no risk in providing free medical care to the indigenous population in poor countries while doing “voluntary” or “humanitarian” service.” (1)

1. W. “Ted” Kuhn: Medical Malpractice in the Developing World. Global Medical Missions, Winepress Publishing, 2007