Children with cleft lip and palate are expected to benefit from a collaboration between the Georgetown Public Hospital Cooperation (GPHC) and an international charitable organisation, Smile Train, to facilitate surgeries at the medical institution to address their condition.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, Dr Shilindra Rajkumar, a plastic surgeon attached to the GPHC, noted that the hospital is grateful to witness another effort made by international counterparts to boost the level of medical services offered to Guyanese. He disclosed that the six-member team intends to complete at least twelve operations on children by this weekend and added that the team would meet with members of the Rotary club and both entities are expected to partner to identify children throughout Guyana who need urgent relief from the condition.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are openings or splits in the upper lip, the roof of the mouth (palate) or both. Cleft lip and cleft palate result when facial structures that are developing in an unborn baby do not close completely.
Five patients had already benefitted from the surgical outreach by last Wednesday.
Smile Train, a non-profit organisation and charity headquartered in New York City, USA, provides free corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. It also trains local doctors and provides hospital funding for the procedures. In the last 20 years, Smile Train has completed some 9000 surgeries yearly.
Mariane Goes, South America Director for the mission, told the DPI that Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable issue: cleft lip and palate. The organisation, she noted, has dedicated its time battling to solve the problem, explaining that the surgery is the first step after which the process continues by using treatment.
According to Goes, the team is not only tasked with conducting surgeries but has invested time and effort in training local medical staff members. “We have trained ten nurses, two anesthesiologists and one plastic surgeon and that’s the first step,” the group leader disclosed and added that training is also planned for audiologists and speech pathologists.
The final goal for the mission is to give every child with a cleft the opportunity for a healthy, productive life.
Meanwhile, little Kiera France was one of the patients who received assistance on Monday from the visiting medical personnel. Kiera’s mother, Melissa France, told the media that prior to the surgery her daughter was having difficulty chewing and drinking. She, like the other satisfied parents, is now relieved that her little one no longer has that struggle and can now smile.
