The President of the North West Regional Executive Council, Prof Fru Angwafo III and the Director of Smile Train for West and Central Africa, Dr Nicole Bouba have officially signed an MoU to eradicate Cleft lip in the North West Region.
First case of cleft at the Mbingo Baptist Hospital
Signed Thursday 26th January 2023, the MoU seeks to improve knowledge about Cleft lip and encourage parents who have children born with this defect to get it fixed before the kids reachee one year of age.
According to Dr Bouba, a child is born every 3 minutes with cleft lip. This greatly affects the speech and nutrition habit of the child and in most cases, the children suffer from ear defects.
Children born with such a condition statistics say, are often secluded, discriminated upon and mostly grow with poor nutrition habits.
Dr Bouba calls on the people of the North West not to keep these children born with cleft lip as a ward has been dedicated to this effect at the Mbingo Baptist hospital and patients are expected not to pay a dime (cost free).
Unlike other NGOs who only come in with expatriates, surgeons, Nurses and other paramedics have been effectively trained to handle issues of Cleft.
Dr Nicole Bouba
Opened in April 2021, the Mbingo Baptist hospital is currently handling cases of cleft lip and Smile Train plans to improve on the awareness across the region.
"This promises to be another milestone in the region to redouble their efforts for comprehensive cleft care and enhancement of the local health system" smile Train notes
Not less than 3000+ cases have been handled in Cameroon and 2 million cases across the world.
Statistics that have gladdened the heart of Prof Fru Angwafo III who says this is a milestone in the North West Region and is a "blessing to the crisis stricken people of the North West."
Prof Fru says the MoU signed will greatly enhance family and community bonds in the society.
With a hope that more and more kids will get their lips fixed, Smile Train says they don't only fund the surgery, but the nutrition that accompanies it plus aids the children with their speech in cases of speech defects.
Founded in 1999, Smile Train is located in 245 countries worldwide and have funded 12000+ surgeries in Central Africa.
By
Ndi Tsembom Elvis
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