People with cleft lip and palate will be operated upon by a team of British doctors next week. This was stated in a press release issued by Pakistan Cleft Lip and Palate Association (PCLAPA) in Islamabad on Friday.
A team of plastic surgeons, specialists and senior doctors will conduct the free-of-charge surgeries. Patients will be examined at Gujrat on October 22 and surgeries will be performed at Bashir Hospital, Gujrat over a six-day period.
In Islamabad, the patients will be examined on October 20. PCLAPA Islamabad chapter President Dr Akhtar Rahman said patients are now being registered for surgery.
The surgery fixes a cut lip or cut palate, or both--a disability that disfigures a person’s face.
The patient also feels difficulty in speaking, eating and drinking, said the press release.
Patients are discharged after three to four days after the surgery and removal of stitches.
In Pakistan, one out of every 530 children born suffers from cleft lip, cleft palate, or both.
The ideal age for cleft palate surgery is between the ages of six to eighteen months, because if the operation is carried out before a child starts speaking, it helps the child in speaking.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2011.
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