Welcome

The Archive for Essential Limb Care is an electronic repository and archive for technical materials (educational/training/operations research/guidelines) on topics essential for provision of sustainable and effective limb care and the prevention of disability in low-resource settings worldwide. The Archive focuses on community-based care and includes supportive strategies to enhance the sustainability of limb care programs. Supportive strategies include efforts to promote community development and empower community leaders through leadership training, sports, business training, and the application of information and communication technology to streamline service delivery. Another category includes critical methods to bridge gaps between the community and higher levels of the health care system. The Archive emphasizes problems of the foot and lower limb as they are most likely to lead to greater disability worldwide.

The Archive for Essential Limb Care defines limb "care" as community-based preventive care facilitated by, early detection of diseases/conditions leading to limb impairment, best-practices in treatment, the restoration of function and mobility, and community actions to prevent disability. The Archive provides open access and global discoverability for multimedia, multidisciplinary contributions that span the continuum of limb care as well as supportive strategies. The content of the Archive is available free of charge to Internet users worldwide.

The Legs to Stand On^TM Initiative (LTSO) and the University Library System (ULS), University of Pittsburgh, are partners in funding the Archive for Essential Limb Care. Unlike other alternatives to commercial publishing, both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed materials will be archived without charging access or publications costs. The Archive is the official publisher of LTSO materials. Contributors include governments, nongovernmental organizations, multilateral organizations and initiatives, professional organizations, academic and research institutions, and individuals. The Archive's goal is to collect all appropriate materials on limb care and the prevention of disabling conditions not already easily accessible by other means.