Educational Initiatives

One of the pillars of the FIP is education and educational opportunities for our members. In additional online courses, the World Congress of Podiatry and other workshops, the FIP is also involved with educational initiatives and organizations around the world.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

The FIP has fostered a partnership with PAHO to produce a diabetic foot protocol for the Andean Region of South America where diabetes is quite prevalent. This protocol will help those in need of good diabetic foot care in South America and also serve as a template to identify people who exhibit a high risk of the "diabetic foot" in many countries around the world.

This initiative will also help facilitate the Federation's goal to attain affiliate status with the World Health Organization.

Projects like this allow the Federation to work together with member countries in many parts of the world.

www.paho.org

IWGDF

The International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) was set up in 1996 to improve outcomes of diabetic foot problems, and enhance communication and collaboration between the many professionals involved in diabetic foot care and those in a position to decide healthcare policy and provide funding. The IWGDF is a truly global network, comprising of representatives from many countries. In 2000, the International Working Group became a Consultative Section (IDF CS) of the International Diabetes Federation in order to facilitate the development of a worldwide network of foot representatives and to work together towards raising awareness of the costs and consequences of the diabetic foot.

One of the objectives of the IWGDF is to develop guidelines to reduce the impact of diabetic foot disease through quality and cost-effective healthcare, based on the principles of evidence-based medicine, augmented with expert opinion. The first International Consensus/Guidelines were launched in 1999. Since then, thanks to the organisation's global network, over 80,000 copies of the guidelines have been distributed throughout the world, and the publication has been translated into 26 languages.

www.iwgdf.org