Tags: Child Health and Growth
By Anna Valmero
NAGA CITY, CAMARINES SUR— Cleft palate and lip are facial deformities affecting 4,000 Filipino babies each year. Unknown to many, these have health implications and can cause severe malnutrition and other diseases if not treated early.
This is the reason why Dr. William Magee, a plastic and craniofacial surgeon and his wife Kathleen founded Operation Smile International in Naga City some 30 years ago after seeing hundreds of malnourished children with cleft palate and cleft lip.
“The impact of facial cleft deformity on a child is beyond physical. Children with cleft palate and cleft lip are more prone to suffer malnutrition, respiratory ailments, ear infections and psychological and sociological issues,” said Dr. Magee, executive director of Operation Smile.
“Children with cleft deformities are often ridiculed and stop going to school so they lack social and work skills so when they grow up they have difficulty finding employment,” he added.
Only 40 of the total 300 children who showed up in Naga during the 1982 mission were treated because Magee’s group did not expect the huge turnout. The Magees vowed to return to treat more children in succeeding medical missions.
The volunteer mission led the Magee couple to learn about the prevalence of the deformity and thus, solicit more donations in their Norfolk, Virginia hometown to be able to return to the Philippines and expand the mission to other countries.
Cleft deformity could occur in the fetus during the fourth to twelfth week in the uterus. Pregnant mothers who smoke and do not take vitamin supplements such as folic acid and Vitamin B6 could have a baby born with cleft palate, according to Magee.
During the first six months to two years, the baby is at risk for malnutrition because they cannot suck milk from the mother. And because the palate cannot close very good, they have difficulty speaking and communicating.
One in every 500 babies born every year in the country has cleft palate or cleft lip, which translates to 4,004 Filipinos out of 2.064 million babies born each year.
This makes cleft deformity one of the top 12 birth defects in the Philippines, according to data from the Department of Health. Worldwide, over 200,000 children are born with cleft palate and cleft lip each year.
“The good news is that the congenital deformity can be corrected with a simple surgery but the high cost of the procedure prohibits low-income families to avail of the treatment. Through Operation Smile, they can get avail of the free surgery which only lasts 45 minutes,” said Magee.
A correction surgery for cleft palate and cleft lip costs $300 or P15,000 per child. Magee urges Filipinos worldwide to contribute as little as $5 or $10 to fund the surgeries of children in the country with cleft deformity.
Likewise, Operation Smile partnered with Smart Communications and Ateneo developer’s group for the development of a mobile surveillance platform to know the actual number of Filipino children with cleft deformity. This is key to update the figures and know exactly how many children need the surgery.
For the 30th anniversary of the medical mission, Operation Smile will provide free surgeries to 1,500 Filipinos and young adults in eight simultaneous medical missions nationwide. The missions will be held in Naga City, Dasmarinas in Cavite, San Fernando in Pampanga, Silay City in Negros, Cebu City, Cagayan De Oro and General Santos City.
Over the past 30 years, Operation Smile was launched in other countries, particularly in developing nations in Asia where there is less available treatment for the deformity. Over 200,000 children worldwide with cleft, of which 24,000 are Filipinos, have been given free reconstructive surgeries.
Get more information about Operation Smile International
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