Harare (New Ziana) – The Ministry of Health and Child Care in partnership with the Global Cleft and Cranio–Facial are providing free surgery to repair cleft lip and cleft palate at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital.
The surgeries commenced on Monday and end on Friday this week.
In an interview with New Ziana, local medical practitioner and one of the organisers of the initiative Dr Adore Danda said the exercise was being done in Harare and might be spread to other provinces in the future.
“We expect about 80 to 100 people to be attended. We are doing this in Harare at the moment and foreseeable future yes,” he said.
“We have people coming from around Zimbabwe. We are still to schedule our next camp dates in Zimbabwe.”
A cleft is a birth defect that occurs when the tissues of the lip and/or palate of the fetus do not fuse very early in pregnancy.
Sometimes referred to as a harelip, a cleft lip is an opening in the upper lip that can extend into the base of the nostril while a cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth.
The initiative by the Ministry of Health and Child Care comes at a time when children who have cleft lip and cleft palate have been failing to get surgery to repair it.
Babies with cleft lips and palates have feeding difficulties, which are more severe in those with cleft palates.
The difficulty in feeding is due to the baby being unable to achieve complete suction. In the case of clefts of the hard palate, liquids enter the nose from the mouth through the opening in the hard palate.
A cleft palate also affects a child’s speech, since the palate is necessary for speech formation. The child’s speech pattern may still be affected despite surgical repair.
The goals of the surgeon repairing a cleft palate are normal speech, normal facial growth, and hearing for the affected infant.
The free surgical camp being undertaken is a great initiative as it provides necessary assistance to parents and children who suffer from cleft lip and cleft palate and ensures that such children get the appropriate medical care they need in order to live healthy lives.
New Ziana
