The growing prevalence of diabetes is accompanied by increases in the number of diabetic complications, including those of the foot. This will especially affect developing countries, where the percentage of the population with diabetes is rapidly out-pacing that in the developed world. With only 19 countries worldwide having licensed schools of podiatry, and trained podiatrists operating in approximately 35 countries, a large shortfall of podiatry services exists globally. To address the resultant skills shortage in diabetic foot care, the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot established the Diabetic Foot Care Education Working Group to develop a programme to train accredited diabetic foot care assistants in developing countries....

This article reports a series of 10 non-healing chronic diabetic foot ulcers following treatment with a new synthetic extracellular matrix (SECM) protein gel, Xelma. During the treatment period, 80% of the previously static ulcers treated showed a reduction in area. These findings suggest that, in conjunction with off-loading, infection control and an adequate blood supply, SECM protein gels may be considered for the treatment of static ulcers, when traditional therapies have failed to achieve healing....