The Diabetic Foot Society of India (DFSI), under the aegis of its national president V.B. Narayanamurthy, has written to Zulfiqarali G. Abbas, president of the Pan-African Diabetic Foot Study Group (PADFSG), proposing the formation of a global alliance on diabetic foot survival and limb preservation.
The proposal noted that the Alliance would provide a common platform for scientific leadership, policy advocacy, regional demonstration programmes, and responsible resource mobilisation. Its objectives would include advocacy with the WHO and national governments to secure explicit recognition of diabetic foot disease as an important medical condition; to improve survival and quality of life through multi-disciplinary care and patient-centred research; to promote prevention, early detection, and rapid referral; to advance surveillance and support the development of registries; to strengthen post-amputation rehabilitation; to promote research and training programmes; and to ensure the meaningful participation of people living with diabetes in governance and programme design. The draft declaration called for diabetic foot disease to be recognised as a major cause of premature death, disability, and exclusion. It called upon the WHO Director-General, regional directors, and member states to make diabetic foot prevention, limb preservation and survival a visible part of diabetes policy, establish common indicators and baseline registries, and support flagship programmes in at least two WHO regions.
The DFSI, therefore, has proposed that institutions, including itself, King’s College London, International Association of Diabetic Foot Surgeons, D-Foot International, American Limb Preservation Society, Federation of International Podiatrists, and PADFSG, come together to form a Global Alliance for Diabetic Foot Survival and Limb Preservation, to create a sustained, scientific, and policy platform for prevention, limb preservation, improved survival, rehabilitation, surveillance, research, and engagement with governments and the World Health Organization (WHO).
