Saudi Arabia has launched a new national diabetic foot initiative aimed at improving early identification, referral and management of patients at risk of lower-limb amputation.
According to Arab News, the Saudi Ministry of Health has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Interventional Radiology Society, the Saudi Diabetic Foot Association and Boston Scientific to implement a two-year programme called Walk Safe. The initiative is designed to strengthen diabetic foot screening, improve referral pathways and support more integrated care for people living with diabetes in the Kingdom.
For the orthotics, prosthetics and diabetic foot sector, the announcement is important because it places amputation prevention firmly within a national healthcare improvement agenda. It also highlights the need for closer collaboration between diabetes centres, vascular specialists, wound care teams, podiatrists, orthotists, prosthetists, nurses and rehabilitation professionals.
Diabetes and the Risk of Limb Loss
Diabetes remains one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant public health challenges. Arab News reported that many patients receive care through Ministry of Health diabetes centres, while complications such as diabetic foot remain a growing concern.
Diabetic foot complications often arise from a combination of neuropathy, poor circulation, pressure, infection and delayed treatment. Loss of protective sensation can allow minor wounds to progress without pain. Peripheral artery disease can reduce blood flow and slow healing. Once ulcers become infected or tissue viability declines, the risk of amputation increases.
This is why early screening and referral are essential. A diabetic foot pathway must identify at-risk patients before ulceration, infection or critical limb-threatening ischaemia develops.
What Walk Safe Aims to Do
The Walk Safe programme is intended to support improved identification and management of at-risk diabetic patients across the Saudi healthcare system. Arab News reported that the programme will support enhanced screening protocols at diabetes centres, with clinical experts contributing to the training of nursing teams in screening and clinical evaluation.
Dr. Hassan El-Shehri, president of the Saudi Interventional Radiology Society, said the programme aims to address diabetes-related amputations through early identification of diabetic foot risks and improved referral pathways across the healthcare system.
This is a key point for rehabilitation and O&P professionals. The most successful diabetic foot systems are not built around one discipline. They depend on clear pathways between primary care, diabetes clinics, vascular care, wound care, offloading, footwear, orthotics, infection management and rehabilitation.
Scaling Across Diabetes and Diabetic Foot Centres
The programme is expected to engage several Ministry of Health hospitals across the Kingdom, with plans to scale to more than 36 diabetes centres, including seven centres that also include diabetic foot services, according to Abdullah Arabe, president of the Saudi Diabetic Foot Association.
If implemented effectively, this could help standardise screening and referral across a broader national network. For diabetic foot care, standardisation matters because delays and inconsistent pathways can directly affect limb outcomes.
A patient with neuropathy, deformity, callus, previous ulceration, poor footwear or vascular compromise may appear stable until a wound develops. Routine screening can help identify these patients earlier and direct them toward preventive intervention.
Why Orthotics and Footwear Matter
Although the Walk Safe announcement focuses strongly on screening, referral and vascular knowledge exchange, orthotic and footwear services should also be central to any diabetic foot prevention strategy.
Many patients at risk of ulceration need:
- Protective footwear
- Custom insoles
- Pressure redistribution
- Total contact casting or removable offloading devices
- Charcot foot management
- AFOs or bracing where deformity or instability is present
- Regular foot checks
- Footwear education
- Post-ulcer or post-amputation rehabilitation
For patients with neuropathy, inappropriate footwear can create pressure and friction without the patient feeling early warning signs. For patients with previous ulceration or partial foot amputation, protective footwear and orthotic management can be essential to preventing recurrence.
This is where orthotists, prosthetists, podiatrists and diabetic foot teams must be part of the wider amputation-prevention conversation.
Vascular Care and Limb Salvage
Boston Scientific’s role in the programme reflects the importance of vascular care in diabetic foot outcomes. Saad Al-Sadhan, regional director of Boston Scientific in Saudi Arabia, said the company would support strategic and clinical implementation, integrated screening, awareness raising and knowledge exchange, while sharing global best practice in vascular care.
This is highly relevant because diabetic foot complications are often linked to vascular disease. Identifying poor circulation early and referring patients for vascular assessment can influence whether a wound heals, deteriorates or progresses toward amputation.
In modern limb salvage pathways, vascular intervention, wound care, infection control, offloading and rehabilitation must work together. A patient cannot benefit from revascularisation if pressure is not removed from the wound. Likewise, offloading alone may not succeed if blood supply is inadequate.
Economic Burden of Diabetic Foot Complications
The Arab News report also highlighted the economic burden of diabetic foot care, including ulcer care, wound management and amputations, which place strain on patients and national healthcare systems.
This is an important policy argument. Diabetic foot prevention is not only clinically important; it is economically rational.
Amputations can lead to:
- Emergency surgery
- Long hospital stays
- Repeated wound care
- Prosthetic and orthotic costs
- Rehabilitation costs
- Loss of work
- Family care burden
- Long-term disability support
- Higher risk of further complications
By contrast, early screening, protective footwear, offloading, vascular referral and patient education may reduce the likelihood of expensive and life-changing complications.
A Wider Signal for the GCC
Saudi Arabia’s Walk Safe programme may have significance beyond the Kingdom. Diabetes is a major health challenge across the Gulf and wider IMEA region. Many countries are facing increasing rates of diabetes, obesity, vascular disease and diabetic foot complications.
For GCC health systems, the Saudi model could encourage more structured national diabetic foot pathways, particularly where diabetes centres already exist but referral into podiatry, orthotics, vascular care or rehabilitation is inconsistent.
For suppliers and service providers, this also suggests growing demand for:
- Diabetic footwear
- Custom foot orthoses
- Offloading devices
- Vascular screening tools
- Wound care products
- Pressure measurement systems
- Patient education tools
- Clinical training programmes
- Multidisciplinary diabetic foot service models
What IMEA CPO Readers Should Watch
For IMEA CPO readers, the key question is how far Walk Safe will integrate orthotic, footwear and rehabilitation pathways alongside vascular and nursing-led screening.
The most effective diabetic foot programmes usually include:
- Risk stratification
- Routine foot screening
- Footwear assessment
- Pressure management
- Rapid referral for wounds
- Vascular assessment
- Infection management
- Offloading protocols
- Patient education
- Follow-up after ulcer healing
- Prosthetic and orthotic rehabilitation after amputation
If Walk Safe helps standardise screening and referral, it could become an important platform for improving access to these wider services.
From Amputation Response to Amputation Prevention
For decades, many healthcare systems have treated amputation as a late-stage outcome of diabetic foot disease. The future must be different. The emphasis should move earlier in the pathway: screening, prevention, offloading, vascular assessment and patient education.
Saudi Arabia’s Walk Safe programme represents a step in that direction.
For orthotists, prosthetists and rehabilitation professionals, the message is clear: diabetic foot care is not separate from O&P. It is one of the most important areas where O&P expertise can prevent disability, protect mobility and reduce the burden of limb loss.
- Arab News: Top Saudi institutions to tackle diabetes under new deal
- Saudi Ministry of Health
- Saudi Interventional Radiology Society
- Saudi Diabetic Foot Association
- Boston Scientific Saudi Arabia
- International Diabetes Federation: Saudi Arabia
- International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot Guidelines
- WHO: Diabetes