The Smile Train (Link to http://www.smiletrain.org/) is a registered international
charity of USA and was launched in 1999 to help the millions of children
around the world suffering from cleft lip and palate. ‘The Smile Train’
provides funding and training needed for performing cleft lip reconstructive
surgery to local doctors and hospitals in developing countries to help children
in their communities. This approach reduces the cost of surgery and also
ensures proper follow up care. Each cleft surgery costs about $250 and takes
only 45 minutes yet the results last a lifetime. In many developing countries
millions of people are born with clefts yet the problem of cleft lip and
palate is not considered a medical priority. There is little support or
assistance for children suffering from clefts and the vast majority of poor
children with clefts do not receive the surgery they need to lead healthy,
normal lives. The Smile Train carefully screens, selects and credentials
hospitals (for safety) and surgeons (for experience and competence) creating
'treatment partnerships' with local hospitals. Poor patients in over 60
countries go to these hospitals, get operated by the credentialed surgeon
and go away without paying a single paisa. The hospitals are paid directly
by the charity.
What is a cleft?
A cleft lip is a condition that creates an opening in the upper lip between
a newborn's mouth and nose. A cleft palate is a condition that causes
the roof of a newborn's mouth not to join completely. Because the lip
and palate can develop independently, some children may be born with both.
This is one of the most common birth defects affecting the human race.
It's estimated that 1 in 700 children is born with this defect. This translates
into 35,000 children born each year in India alone. The total number of
adults with unrepaired clefts is estimated at almost 10 lakhs in India.
What happens if clefts are left uncorrected?
The greatest damage is social and psychological. Parents and family feel
ashamed about such children, mothers-in-law blame their daughters-in-law
often accusing them of being witches, and even if these children grow
up they cannot make friends, go to school and lead a normal life. Other
kids taunt them. Schools won't accept them. A hole in the palate prevents
the child from speaking properly and these kids grow up with unintelligible
speech. Medically the problems with a cleft start immediately after birth;
the child is unable to suckle at his mother's breast and takes in a lot
of air along with milk and thus remains undernourished. Due to the gap
in the roof of the mouth these children are prone to frequent respiratory
tract infections and middle ear problems leading to impaired hearing.
When hearing gets affected so does learning and people think they are
retarded. Grown up kids with clefts suffer from extremely low self-esteem
and keep themselves hidden from society.
Where does the police come in?
While Government Health Schemes and organizations like the Smile Train
are making efforts to reach out to the children suffering from this problem
yet the poor people often have little or no information about the possibility
of free cure. The policeman on beat patrol duty often encounters such
cases and is in a position to guide the parents. The Ambala Police has
adopted this programme and is facilitating the identification of cleft
lip cases amongst the children and in liaisoning with designated hospitals
for the corrective surgery. The police also helps in the preliminary health
check up of the child like the minimum body weight, hemoglobin content
etc before escorting the child and the parents to the designated hospital.
The Ambala Police has identified over 40 children suffering from this
problem and has helped in 19 cases of successful surgery at CMC Hospital,
Ludhiana.
The hospitals in the region that are performing free surgeries with the help of Smile Train:
Dr Vijay A E Obed,
Professor and Head, Dept of Plastic, Microsurgery and Burns, Christian Medical College & Hospital
Brown Road, Ludhiana 141 008, Punjab, India.
Tel: (Office) 0161-5010828 (Hospital) 0161-5026999 / 2643171-180 (Home) 0161- 2642002
Dr Devansh
Plastic Surgeon, Maharaja Agrasen Hospital
Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi 110 026
Tel (Hospital): 011-512 1645
Tel (Home): 011-701 7371 or 011-701 7240
Dr Ravi Kumar Mahajan
Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Amandeep Hospital
G.T. Road, Model Town, Amritsar 143 001 Punjab
Tel (Hospital): 0183-2400693,2566738
Fax: 0183-2562774; Tel: (Home):0183-2504563
Dr. S.P. Bajaj
Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Jaipur Golden Hospital,
2-Institutional Area, Sector-3, Rohini, New Delhi 110 085
Tel (Hospital) - 011-27525984-88; (Home) - 011-25595533, 25573341 Fax: 011-27518121
Dr. Rakesh Kumar Khazanchi
Senior Consultant and Chairman, Department of Plastic Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi - 110 060
Tel (Hospital): (011) 25861463, 25735205 (Extn. 227, 1836)) Fax: (011) 25861002 ,
Home Address: G.F., D-9, Geetanjali Enclave, New Delhi 110 017 Tel. : (011) 2669 2777, 51881086, 51881087
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