VALENCIA (EP). The Illustrious Official College of Podiatry of the Valencian Community (ICOPCV) regretted this Monday, on the occasion of tomorrow’s celebration of the International Podiatry Day, that this health branch is “totally discriminated against” by the Ministry of Health and in this regard it has demanded that is part of the Public Health System.
In that sense, the president of the ICOPCV, Pilar Nietoconsiders it “outrageous” that the inclusion of Podiatry in public health services “is not among the objectives of the Ministry of Health.” “On multiple occasions they have assured us that progress was being made, but in practice nothing has evolved since 2013. It is an affront to both Podiatry and patients,” he noted.
In this sense, he recalled that in 2018 the Generalitat Valenciana approved an amendment by which this health branch was included in the 2019 budgets to make effective the incorporation of podiatrists into the health system, but “six years later there has been no change”.
“Citizens have the right by law to decent care from the appropriate professionals and this means that a specialist in foot health is responsible for addressing prevention, diagnosis and treatment issues,” he stressed.
On the occasion of the International Podiatry Day and in relation to this need to be part of public health, the ICOPCV has started a campaign on social networks that, under the motto ‘Public and Universal Podiatry’, informs about all the skills and specialties of this health branch, to disseminate all the activity of their profession and make it known to society.
In this way, attention has been paid to key aspects of podiatric surgery, diabetic foot, children’s podiatry, or sports podiatry, for example.
Podiatric surgery has meant “a great improvement” in the quality of life of patients who can now solve chronic pathologies, such as bunions or claw toes, with “more precise, more comfortable postoperative periods and shorter recovery times.”
“The specialization of podiatrists in how to intervene or perform postoperative procedures specifically according to the particularities of the feet, means that these professionals offer greater guarantees in the process that other health branches do not handle in the same way,” he noted.
He also recalled that radiodiagnosis, minor outpatient surgery, echo-interventionism or podiatric prescription are skills that guarantee the safety of the surgical treatment they perform and that of their patients.
In relation to the diabetic foot, the ICOPCV has insisted that the Valencian Community has high rates of amputations in people who suffer from this pathology, which “could be avoided in a high percentage if a podiatrist could treat them periodically by carrying out an important work preventive”.
Another of the disciplines that has grown the most in recent years has been sports podiatry. This discipline focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries related to the practice of sports, contributing “significantly to the performance and well-being of athletes and anyone who practices sports”, making it “essential” to promote healthy habits. , they point out.
Thus, he has emphasized that the feet are the basis of movement and any problem in this area can affect both his performance and his health in general. Injuries such as plantar fasciitis, tendonitis or biomechanical problems can limit an athlete’s ability to train and compete. In these cases, a sports podiatrist can offer “specific treatments, perform gait analysis and design personalized orthopedic treatments that optimize the alignment and distribution of pressure and allow sports to be practiced in a safer way.”
Children’s podiatry
Finally, another of the key branches within this profession is children’s podiatry, which is responsible for preventing or treating any structural or functional alteration of children’s feet. “This is of great importance at an early age to avoid future problems,” he noted.
In fact, it is so relevant that it has led the ICOPCV to create the first School Podiatric Education Program in Spain and, in this way, educate the little ones from schools on how to properly care for their feet and protect their health, which is essential since which are the basis of the body.
In this regard, the ICOPCV has warned that the problem with all these specialized treatments is that “they do not have healthcare coverage” by the Public Health System, so “only patients who can bear their costs can access them.” For this reason, they have claimed the importance of having a Public and Universal Podiatry.