A reason to smile: Free lip surgeries
Foundation laid for Pakistan’s first hospital for cleft lip and palate patients.
GUJRAT:
The Pakistan Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Association (PCLAPA) laid the foundation for a charitable hospital to provide free surgery and treatment to children and adults on Friday.
The Cleft Lip Cure Centre has been established with an estimated cost of Rs200 million, out of which Rs 900,000 has been provided by the Japanese government. PCLAPA officials said that the hospital would be spread over 12,000 square feet and would include state-of-the-art operation theaters, allied medical facilities and pre-and-post operation services. Officials said that the hospital basement would also include a prayer hall and facilities for patients and visitors.
“Initially the hospital will include 75 beds but we hope to increase the number to 100 shortly afterwards,” said PCLAPA officer Shireen Rauf.
The Ayesha Bashir Hospital (ABH) is to be constructed adjacent to the centre at Juliani outside Gujrat City. The ABH will cover 60,000 square feet buildings and blocks that will house operations theaters, a pharmacy and other wards. On-site residential accommodation will be provided to specialist foreign and Pakistani doctors, paramedics, nursing and other staff.
PCLAPA secretary general Dr Ijaz Bashir said that a large number of prominent people, businessmen and philanthropists had come together to ensure this project was a success. Bashir Hospital Trust director Alhaj Mirza Muhammad said “I am proud to be part of this venture because it aims to provide quality medical care to those who need it desperately.”
PCLAPA has several chapters in various cities. It has been providing free surgeries to children and other cleft lip and cleft palate patients since 1996 at the Bashir Hospital, Gujrat. A team of ten top British consultants, doctors and paramedics, headed by Dr Nick Hart, visits Pakistan twice a year in March and November to perform free surgeries and provide medical treatment. “We now hope that this will continue all year round. Cleft palate surgeries are only one of the plastic surgery procedures we hope to provide free of cost,” Dr Hart said. Dr Bashir said “The centre will also begin providing free reconstructive surgery for acid victims as well as treatment for burn victims,” he said.
The PCLAPA have performed 2,288 surgeries and treated 10,950 patients in the past week. The numbers include those operated upon and treated at the 27th PCLAPA camp, which concluded this week in Gujrat. “One out of 530 children is born with a cleft lip, cleft palate or both,” said Dr Bashir, adding “There was no organisation that catered specifically to such patients.
We felt that we needed to fill that void.” “If a cleft-lip child is not treated during the first year of his or her life, it is rendered disabled,” he said.
Dr Hart said “Due to the lack of ante-natal and pre-natal facilities, the incidence of cleft lip and cleft palates have increased considerably. The mortality rate for such infants is extremely high.”
“This is why such health facilities are vital,” he added.
PCLAPA is fighting against an ever-increasing number of cleft-lip and palate disabilities by organising free plastic surgery camps, twice a year. British and Pakistani doctors, who are part of the camp, operate on nearly 300 patients each week.
The new centre also aims to provide health training and education facilities to the parents of such children. The parents will also be provided access to health facility providers like TBAs, paramedical staff and printed resource materials.
The PCLAPA also hopes to provide free physiotherapy, speech therapy and audiometery services to patients following the surgery.
The centre will be the first permanent institution in Pakistan to cater to all the needs of cleft-lip and palate patients on a regular basis. Plastic surgeries will be arranged on regular basis to treat the maximum number of cleft-lip and palate children during their first year after birth.
The project will also train TBAs and parents to take care of the newborns and other babies with birth defects.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 02nd, 2011.
The Pakistan Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Association (PCLAPA) laid the foundation for a charitable hospital to provide free surgery and treatment to children and adults on Friday.
The Cleft Lip Cure Centre has been established with an estimated cost of Rs200 million, out of which Rs 900,000 has been provided by the Japanese government. PCLAPA officials said that the hospital would be spread over 12,000 square feet and would include state-of-the-art operation theaters, allied medical facilities and pre-and-post operation services. Officials said that the hospital basement would also include a prayer hall and facilities for patients and visitors.
“Initially the hospital will include 75 beds but we hope to increase the number to 100 shortly afterwards,” said PCLAPA officer Shireen Rauf.
The Ayesha Bashir Hospital (ABH) is to be constructed adjacent to the centre at Juliani outside Gujrat City. The ABH will cover 60,000 square feet buildings and blocks that will house operations theaters, a pharmacy and other wards. On-site residential accommodation will be provided to specialist foreign and Pakistani doctors, paramedics, nursing and other staff.
PCLAPA secretary general Dr Ijaz Bashir said that a large number of prominent people, businessmen and philanthropists had come together to ensure this project was a success. Bashir Hospital Trust director Alhaj Mirza Muhammad said “I am proud to be part of this venture because it aims to provide quality medical care to those who need it desperately.”
PCLAPA has several chapters in various cities. It has been providing free surgeries to children and other cleft lip and cleft palate patients since 1996 at the Bashir Hospital, Gujrat. A team of ten top British consultants, doctors and paramedics, headed by Dr Nick Hart, visits Pakistan twice a year in March and November to perform free surgeries and provide medical treatment. “We now hope that this will continue all year round. Cleft palate surgeries are only one of the plastic surgery procedures we hope to provide free of cost,” Dr Hart said. Dr Bashir said “The centre will also begin providing free reconstructive surgery for acid victims as well as treatment for burn victims,” he said.
The PCLAPA have performed 2,288 surgeries and treated 10,950 patients in the past week. The numbers include those operated upon and treated at the 27th PCLAPA camp, which concluded this week in Gujrat. “One out of 530 children is born with a cleft lip, cleft palate or both,” said Dr Bashir, adding “There was no organisation that catered specifically to such patients.
We felt that we needed to fill that void.” “If a cleft-lip child is not treated during the first year of his or her life, it is rendered disabled,” he said.
Dr Hart said “Due to the lack of ante-natal and pre-natal facilities, the incidence of cleft lip and cleft palates have increased considerably. The mortality rate for such infants is extremely high.”
“This is why such health facilities are vital,” he added.
PCLAPA is fighting against an ever-increasing number of cleft-lip and palate disabilities by organising free plastic surgery camps, twice a year. British and Pakistani doctors, who are part of the camp, operate on nearly 300 patients each week.
The new centre also aims to provide health training and education facilities to the parents of such children. The parents will also be provided access to health facility providers like TBAs, paramedical staff and printed resource materials.
The PCLAPA also hopes to provide free physiotherapy, speech therapy and audiometery services to patients following the surgery.
The centre will be the first permanent institution in Pakistan to cater to all the needs of cleft-lip and palate patients on a regular basis. Plastic surgeries will be arranged on regular basis to treat the maximum number of cleft-lip and palate children during their first year after birth.
The project will also train TBAs and parents to take care of the newborns and other babies with birth defects.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 02nd, 2011.