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| Before and after surgery of a cleft victim |
Some 154 patients with various forms cleft conditions, have had their deformities corrected last week through a free medical operation undertaken by the world acclaimed medical charity, ‘Operation Smile’ at the Volta regional hospital in Ho.
The five day medical operation which had a 36,000 dollar support from Unibank, involved a team of 86 medical and non-medical volunteers who worked to put smiles on the faces of the patients, aged between 6 months and 73 years, with children dominating.
Cleft lips are lips that are not fully formed and cleft palates are holes in the roof of the mouth. This, experts say can create speech abnormalities and breathing problems sometimes resulting in death.
According to Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, leader of the surgical team, a total of seven surgeons operated on the patients drawn from various parts of the country within the five days.
“Seven surgeons were operating simultaneously for the one week. We ensure that we do the young children early in the day and the older one later in the day. It was very tedious but we have about the successful outcome of the operations.”
