Putting smiles on faces of people with cleft lips

Our Correspondent
Imphal, Jan. 22 (EMN): As many as 10 persons with cleft lips and palates from Nagaland were successfully given free corrective surgeries in Shija Hospitals and Research Institute (SHRI) at Langol Health City, in the outskirts of Imphal, Manipur.

The beneficiaries were from different parts of Nagaland who were unable to afford treatment, according to a press release, and the corrective surgeries were done under the Smile Train Shija Cleft Project, Imphal; Smile Train, India; and Oking Hospital, Kohima.

It was informed that the 10 beneficiaries first came to Oking Hospital in Kohima from their villages in Nagaland before they were taken to Imphal on January 17 along with their attendants after getting their RT-PCR Covid test done.

They were admitted to Shija hospital on the same day and given free corrective surgery, medicine, accommodation, and travel allowances. They, along with their attendants, were then taken back to the Oking Hospital, Kohima on Thursday after taking another Covid-19 test.

Covid-appropriate protocols were followed during the entire process. Most of the patients who sought free surgeries were from remote villages of Nagaland, it was informed.

More than 649 people with cleft lip from Nagaland have availed free treatment under Smile Train Shija Cleft Project since its inception in 2006 and more than 4000 free cleft lip surgeries have been successfully performed till date, informed the update.

Those who want to avail free corrective surgery for cleft lip can contact Oking Hospital in Kohima, which is a partner hospital for the project.

It may be mentioned that cleft lip and cleft palate are openings or splits in the upper lip, the roof of the mouth (palate) and are among the most common birth defects.

Cleft lip should be corrected from the age of six month and cleft palate from 14 months onwards to achieve the best results. Research has revealed that three infants with a cleft are born every hour in India, added the update.