The Jaipur limb and foot

In the 12 years which have elapsed since the United Nations declared 1981 to be the Year of the Disabled, the number of amputees world-wide has risen alarmingly, continuing the pattern of the past 40 years, which have seen innumerable conflicts, large and small, with ever-increasing and indiscriminate use of 'improved' antipersonnel mines which have been sown in enormous numbers in rural areas. Even after fighting has ceased--as in Vietnam, which currently has some 200,000 amputees--fresh injuries are caused daily, often to children, by the long-delayed detonation of these weapons. Much of the research and development in prosthetics since World War II has concentrated on producing artificial limbs suitable for an affluent and industrialized society. These, being made from the most modern materials and incorporating the latest technology, are of necessity expensive even for affluent Americans or Europeans and quite out of reach for the 80 per cent of the world's amputees who live in the developing world and for the vast majority of whom these splendid prostheses may be entirely inappropriate. This article describes a foot and leg specifically designed to fit in with the customs and practices of just such people.