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In 2019, India saw two million amputations carried out, higher than any other country in the world, the only global survey of the procedure found. In some ways, this high overall number is to be expected, given India’s population. Further, many amputations result from road accidents, of which India has the highest number in the world.

But as Johanna Deeksha found reporting on amputations in the country, there is another troubling side to the problem – thousands are losing limbs each year as a result of diseases such as diabetes. Doctors explained that in large part, this occurs because of the negligence of medical professionals, and also because they are inadequately trained to tackle these diseases at an early stage in a way that can prevent the loss of limbs later.

“For the reporting of this story, I sat at the desk of a doctor watching patient after patient come in with the most grievous ulcers and wounds on their legs, some amputated due to delay in treatment,” Deeksha said. “Patients said they simply didn’t know that their condition had been serious. There was no time to care for a small wound when bills were piling up, or if they had tried, their local healthcare had failed them.”

She added, “The healthcare system is certainly failing to provide awareness and accessible care for the most vulnerable in the country.”
You can read the story here.

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Ajay Krishnan
Senior Editor

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Why India has the worst amputation epidemic in the world

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