The Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, in collaboration with Smile Train, has commenced free cleft lip and palate surgeries for children in Rivers State as part of activities marking the 7th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Cleft Lip and Palate.
The conference, which began on July 1 and will run until July 4 in Port Harcourt, is themed: “Strengthening Networks to Improve Cleft Awareness, Promote Early Detection, and Streamline Referral Pathways.”
Speaking during the unveiling of the pre-conference activities, the Chief Medical Director of RSUTH, Professor Chizindu Alikor, said the initiative was designed to provide free, accessible treatment for children living with cleft lip and palate while reducing the stigma associated with the condition.
He said the programme would ease the financial burden on families who would otherwise spend huge sums or travel long distances to access specialised treatment.
“These surgeries would ordinarily require families to spend a lot of money or travel to different parts of the country. Through this collaboration with Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft charity, these services are now available free of charge,” Alikor said.
He commended the organisers for choosing RSUTH and Port Harcourt as the venue for the conference and surgical outreach, while expressing appreciation to the Rivers State Government for supporting the event.
Alikor also conveyed the goodwill of the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, noting that the state government provided accommodation for the association’s executives.
The CMD urged parents and guardians to bring children born with cleft lip or palate to the hospital, stressing that free treatment would continue beyond the conference.
He said the hospital’s Burns and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, led by Associate Professor Nimi Oti Aria, has continued to partner with Smile Train to provide free corrective surgeries and had intensified public awareness through local language campaigns to encourage early presentation of affected children.
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Also speaking, the President of NACLP dismissed widespread myths linking cleft lip and palate to witchcraft or personal sin, describing the condition as a congenital deformity that can be successfully treated.
He lamented that many children born with the condition are abandoned, killed or subjected to discrimination because of ignorance.
“This condition is not caused by witchcraft or personal sin. It is a genetic deformity. Many families are broken because of it, and mothers are abandoned by their husbands. We are saying no to that,” he said.
The association’s president disclosed that several complex cases selected for the outreach would receive specialised care from experienced cleft surgeons from across Nigeria, adding that some of the cases would ordinarily require treatment abroad.
He appealed to parents to ensure affected children receive treatment as early as possible, noting that cleft lip repair can be carried out within the first few months of life, while cleft palate surgery is ideally performed between 12 and 18 months.
According to him, Smile Train provides comprehensive support, including surgery, nutrition, transportation assistance and follow-up care, enabling children to live healthy and productive lives.
He expressed optimism that no child in Rivers State or the South-South region should live with an untreated cleft lip beyond three to four months of age.
As part of the pre-conference activities, healthcare professionals from across the South-South region also received specialised training in orthodontics, speech therapy and nursing care for patients with cleft lip and palate.
