50 kids undergo cleft lip screening
AT least 50 children will this week benefit from a free cleft lip surgical camp at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare in line with the Government’s vision 2030 of leaving no one and no place behind.
The cleft lip camp, which is being rolled out by the Ministry of Health and Child Care with support from the Global Cleft and Cranio-Facial Organisation, is targeting children between the ages of three to nine months.
The screening process was conducted yesterday while operations are expected to start today and run until Saturday.
Cleft lip surgery is a procedure to restore normal appearance and function to the upper lip. Cleft lip surgery is usually recommended at three to four months of age. In most cases, the tissue in the area around the cleft is rearranged to close the opening.
In an interview, head of specialist services at Providence Health Dr Paidamoyo Ndudzo-Gurupira said the camp was aimed at helping children born with cleft lips and reducing the waiting list for the operations.
“We are here today as local doctors to help children who have deformations and are born with cleft lips. Today we are targeting to screen more than 100 children, and we want 50 for surgery. This is our second time to do the cleft lip surgery. In July, we did 25 and this time we are fighting to get to 50,” she said.
Dr Ndudzo-Gurupira said the children had to go under general anaesthesia.
“The children have to go under general anaesthetic before they go into theatre, but that does not mean everyone will go to theatre. There are some surgeons who have to look to see if the children qualify for surgery,” she said.
Factors that disqualified some of the children from going to theatre included flu and children with other underlying medical conditions.
Dr Ndudzo-Gurupira said the camp also provided counselling services for the mothers of children with cleft lips as the babies with the condition experienced many difficulties.
“Babies born with a cleft lip or cleft palate may have difficulties eating (both from the breast and a bottle). They may also have trouble speaking, and they often have fluid behind their eardrum that can affect hearing. Depending on the case, some also have issues with their teeth,” she added.
“A cleft lip can be treated if it goes under surgery. It is a quick fix that brings about changes in their lives. It’s something that can be easily sorted out, but unfortunately, most people are out of reach, mostly because of a lack of knowledge or the cost.”
Parents of the children who were undergoing screening expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to have the operation free of charge.
Ms Barbra Mahunze from Shamva applauded the initiative that she was granted last year when her child, who had both cleft lip and cleft palate, got the first operation.
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THE measures such as a regular cattle dipping and vaccination introduced by Government have resulted in a significant drop in cattle deaths due to anthrax and January disease, particularly in the last three months.
The integrated strategy for tick-borne disease control strategy now applied countrywide, has seen most provinces receiving significant amounts of dipping chemicals to combat the spread of diseases that have previously killed thousands of cattle.
Speaking during an inspection of a spray race at Mvurachena Farm in Kwekwe recently, chief director for Veterinary Services Dr Pious Makaya said animal mortality due to January disease had dropped markedly.
“We have done quite well as the mortalities have since reduced in terms of tick-borne disease. Our dipping programme was very well-received especially in the communal areas and it has yielded results. For the past three months, we also have not received any death from anthrax,” he said.
Dr Makaya said to contain anthrax, the department was working with the Ministry of Health and Child Care as the disease could also hit humans.
Vaccinations are ongoing in areas such as Chipinge and Gokwe South and North districts where cases of anthrax in livestock were recorded.
The integrated tick-borne disease control strategy that focuses mostly on dipping as the primary control strategy, was the first line of defence against cattle disease, said Dr Makaya.
“The primary line of defence is strategic dipping which will be supported by thorough analysis because some animals would have developed resistance due to continuous dipping. This is strongly supported by vaccination in the already infected places so that we reduce mortality by about 70 percent,” said Dr Makaya.
“We are now moving to the second phase where we target A1 and A2 farmers. We introduce a spray race and security for our animals to avoid free movement which risks spread of diseases.”
Dr Makaya said the country had enough dipping chemicals to last for two months and was now manufacturing vaccines for the January disease.
“We are producing vaccines at the laboratory and we are doing well in that line. All provinces are using the vaccines and we are targeting host spots of January disease so that we curb mortality,” he said.
Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Owen Ncube said the Second Republic was implementing robust programmes and blueprints aimed at accelerating attainment of a prosperous upper-middle income society through increased rural per-capita incomes and improved household food security and nutrition.
“Programmes like the livestock recovery and growth plan put in place solid interventions to address livestock production and productivity issues such as tick-borne diseases. The plan aims to strengthen animal disease surveillance and control systems as well as more developed and resilient livestock production systems.
“The Second Republic seeks to grow the national cattle herd to 6 million by 2025 and for Midlands the target is 950 000 by the same year and currently we stand at 800 000,” he said.