India is home to over 100 million people living with diabetes, yet one of the most devastating complications of the disease, the diabetic foot, continues to receive far less attention than it demands. An estimated 14 lakh diabetes-related amputations take place in the country every year, including both minor and major procedures. Of these, approximately 1.4 lakh are major below-knee or above-knee amputations. According to Dr. Sanjay Sharma, a Bengaluru-based podiatric surgeon and Founder of FootSecure, up to 80 per cent of these amputations are preventable.

Dr. Sharma, who holds an MS in General Surgery, came to podiatry almost by chance. "The more I understood the field, the more interested I became in the way it combines surgery, prevention, biomechanics and long-term patient care," he says. What drew him most, he adds, was the opportunity to save limbs and, in many cases, save lives. "A diabetic foot problem is not just about a wound. It affects mobility, independence, livelihood and survival."