Pedorthics remains largely unrecognised as a distinct profession in Uganda, but a developing service at the New Life Orthopaedic Center in Kiyunga is demonstrating how orthopaedic footwear and foot orthoses could become a more established part of the country’s rehabilitation system.
The initiative is profiled by pedorthist Sara Bernet in the latest edition of the international journal foot & shoe. The article explains how the nonprofit organisation PRO Uganda expanded its orthopaedic-technology workshop to include pedorthics approximately two years ago.
The programme is still at an early stage, but the centre is already producing foot orthoses, modifying footwear, creating shoe lifts and developing its first custom-made orthopaedic shoes. It is also beginning to provide footwear interventions for people with diabetic foot complications.
The full feature appears on pages 14–17 of foot & shoe 02/2026.
From mobile missions to a permanent centre
PRO Uganda—Prostheses for a New Life—was established in 2013 to support Ugandans who could not otherwise afford prostheses, orthoses and other assistive devices.
In its early years, the organisation delivered services through visiting missions, with teams carrying equipment and materials in suitcases. A permanent orthopaedic workshop opened in Kiyunga, near Kampala, in 2017, enabling patients to receive care using a more complete range of machinery and workshop equipment.
A new Centre of Excellence was completed in October 2024. The expanded facility supports prosthetic and orthotic care, physiotherapy, wheelchair services, psychosocial counselling, professional education and community activities.
The local operation is known as the New Life Orthopaedic Center Uganda. Its stated priorities include direct patient care, the education of Ugandan professionals and the development of treatment approaches that can work within local economic, material and clinical conditions.
Pedorthics sits within P&O
Uganda does not currently recognise pedorthics as an independent profession, according to the foot & shoe report. The nearest formal route is education in prosthetics and orthotics, with orthopaedic-footwear work falling under the wider P&O field.
There is no dedicated Ugandan pedorthic examination or officially recognised qualification for trainees working specifically in the discipline.
This creates an important workforce challenge. Pedorthics requires a combination of clinical observation, biomechanical understanding, footwear knowledge and practical craftsmanship. Competence develops through sustained exposure to assessment, design, manufacturing, fitting and follow-up—not through a short introduction to workshop techniques.
The report says workplace placements within existing P&O education can be relatively brief, making daily mentorship particularly important for developing technical judgement and attention to detail.
PRO Uganda’s workshop team includes four Ugandan orthopaedic technicians and a pedorthist from Switzerland. Since March 2026, it has also included a Ugandan pedorthist undertaking practical training.
This locally focused training may be one of the programme’s most significant long-term contributions. While visiting specialists can deliver valuable care and knowledge, a sustainable national service ultimately depends on professionals who remain within Uganda and can train others.
Materials require creativity and careful planning
Access to suitable materials is one of the centre’s most persistent challenges.
Uganda does not have the specialist pedorthic supply network found in countries where orthopaedic-footwear technology is well established. The team sources some materials from local markets and tanneries, but availability and quality can be inconsistent.
Locally obtainable materials may be too soft, too heavy or insufficiently stable for their intended application. The article notes that some materials can lose their shape after only a few weeks, requiring interventions such as shoe raises to be readjusted.
The team sometimes adapts products from other industries, including filling compounds used in automotive applications. Other materials must be imported from Europe.
Importing medical and workshop products brings additional complications. Products must be declared correctly, taxes can be high and hazardous materials such as adhesives, foams and laminating resins require advance planning. The publication reports that shipping can take four months or more.
Material donations and technical support from partner organisations therefore remain important. However, the team must use donated products selectively, often choosing versatile materials that can cover several applications rather than maintaining multiple specialised systems.
Footwear is frequently the limiting factor
Even when an appropriate foot orthosis or shoe modification can be designed, the patient’s existing footwear may not provide a suitable foundation.
Many patients arrive with second-hand shoes that are worn, damaged or deformed. Exposure to dust, dirt and demanding walking environments can cause further deterioration.
The practitioner must then decide whether a technically meaningful and durable modification is possible—or whether the shoe may fail during or shortly after treatment.
This is especially important when treating people with diabetes or severe deformities. An unstable, damaged or poorly fitting shoe may compromise pressure redistribution and introduce new areas of friction.
Donated footwear can make some interventions possible, but collecting and transporting suitable sizes and designs is logistically difficult. When an appropriate stock shoe is unavailable, the alternative may be fully customised footwear, which requires substantially more labour, skill and material.
The Kiyunga workshop is now providing:
- Custom and adapted foot orthoses
- Shoe modifications
- External shoe raises
- Custom-made orthopaedic footwear
- Footwear interventions for diabetic foot complications
- Solutions combining footwear with orthoses such as KAFOs
The article includes an example of custom lasts created to accommodate a substantial leg-length discrepancy associated with unilateral KAFO use while also addressing a foot deformity through custom footwear.
Clinical care extends beyond the workshop
The feature makes clear that Uganda’s pedorthic challenge is not purely technical.
Many patients do not have comprehensive health-insurance coverage and must pay privately or depend on NGOs, sponsors and charitable programmes. Some travel hundreds of kilometres—or cross national borders—to access orthopaedic care.
Very few arrive with a medical referral. Straightforward cases may be managed by the centre’s rehabilitation team, while complex presentations can require consultation with local doctors or visiting surgical teams.
Access to surgery and even an initial medical examination may be beyond a family’s financial means. This can prevent the completion of a treatment plan, regardless of the pedorthic and orthotic expertise available.
Delayed presentation is another concern. The article reports that children with disabilities may sometimes be hidden or sent to live with relatives because of stigma and social pressure. Families may also lack information about conditions such as clubfoot and assume that a deformity will resolve without treatment.
By the time the patient reaches a rehabilitation service, the clinical presentation may be considerably more complex.
Language also affects care. Uganda has many local languages, and not every patient speaks sufficient English to communicate directly with visiting professionals. Effective partnerships with Ugandan practitioners are therefore essential for assessment, consent, education and follow-up.
An integrated rehabilitation model
PRO Uganda’s approach connects pedorthics with prosthetics, orthotics, physiotherapy, wheelchair provision and psychosocial support.
That integration is particularly important because a technically successful device does not automatically create a functional outcome. Patients may need rehabilitation to improve mobility, strength, balance and confidence. They may also require education on footwear use, skin inspection, maintenance and when to return for adjustment.
The centre plans to continue developing its workshop, improving production quality and raising public and professional awareness of orthopaedic-footwear services.
For the wider African P&O community, the project illustrates both the potential and the difficulty of establishing pedorthics in a resource-constrained setting. The objective cannot simply be to reproduce a European workshop using materials and systems that are difficult to obtain locally.
Sustainable services require locally trained professionals, realistic designs, reliable supply chains, strong referral relationships and solutions suited to the footwear people can actually access.
The foot & shoe article is a project-based account rather than a national study of pedorthics in Uganda. Nevertheless, it provides a valuable view of the professional, financial and social factors influencing orthopaedic-footwear provision—and of the local capacity now being developed to address them.
- foot & shoe 02/2026: Full Digital Issue
- foot & shoe: Latest Issue and Contents
- PRO Uganda
- New Life Orthopaedic Center Uganda
- PRO Uganda at OTWorld