Free cleft lip/palate surgery kicks off in Ilorin

The scheduled free cleft lip and palate surgery started in Ilorin yesterday with the screening of the patients by members of the Alliance for Smiles, United states of America in collaboration with Rotary club international, Kwara state government and Mike Omotosho foundation.

One hundred people including children and adult from all over the country are expected to benefit from the surgery, out of which only 52 have so far registered and 36 are already in Ilorin at the time of filing this report.

Speaking during

a

press conference, the District Governor, Rotary International - District 9125, Dr. Mike Omotosho, disclosed that the surgery will hold for ten to thirteen days in order to cover all the patients.

“Our target is between eighty and one hundred out of which we have 52 who registered and 36 on ground as we kick off the programme and the club is doing this to put smiles on the faces of the families of those who would benefit from it because apart from the stigmatisation, it is also difficult to cater for the children with cleft lip,” Omotosho said

Also speaking, the team leader of Alliance for Smiles from USA, Barbara Fisher, who will carry out the surgeries, noted that 10 per cent of cleft lip children died at birth. She said her team was out to change their lives and happy to be part of the project which she said they have done in other parts of the world.

On the cost of the surgery, she announced that it is going to be free for all the people they will attend to in Nigeria, though ordinarily it cost about $1000. A parent of one of the patients said he was asked to pay $40,000 in the USA apart from the flight ticket and other expenses.

On the cause of the cleft lip, Barbara said there is no particular cause of it but might be genetic or as a result of the environment.