Before the surgeries began, 45 outpatients were examined in Islamabad on Thursday and referred for surgery.
More than 150 patients have already registered, while more can do so during the camp and be operated upon. Patients are discharged after three to four days following the surgery and removal of stitches.
The surgeries, treatment, medicines, hospitalisation, boarding and food will be provided free of charge by Pakistan Cleft Lip and Palate Association (PCLAPA). The association has been involved in the charitable work since 1995.
The surgeries will be performed at PCLAPA’s dedicated Bashir Hospital, Railway Road, Gujrat, at the 26th camp and will continue until Friday, November 5. The Islamabad telephone contact number and address for appointment or information is: Dr Akhtar Rahman, (051) 2251275, 0333-515-7676, Address: House 7, Street 13, F-8/3.
Dr Ijaz Bashir, secretary general PCLAPA, said children with cleft lip and cleft
palate will be operated upon by a team of internationally distinguished plastic surgeons, specialists and paramedical staff. The practice has been arranged by PCLAPA for the past 16 years with 2,033 children having been operated upon and cured, according to the association’s press release.
The surgery cures and helps patients with a cut lip or cut palate, or both — a disability that disfigures a person and causes difficulty in speaking, or even taking food and drink, Dr Ijaz Bashir said.
The PCLAPA operates as a registered charitable institution, and is funded by private donations and contributions from Zakat mainly from
its own members. All donations are exempted from Income Tax by Federal Bureau of Revenues.
Among several large and prominent donors who have come forward to help children include students and teachers of International School of Islamabad and their Smile Club, as well as Islamabad Foreign Wives Association, which represents wives of all diplomats in Pakistan.
The Islamabad chapter of PCLAPA is chaired by Dr Akhtar Rehman, a former director and administrator of King Fahd Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Patients in advance of the surgery are registered with Dr Ijaz Bashir at Bashir Hospital in Gujrat (telephone: 53- 3521102, 3524139, 3536711, e-mail: pclapa1@gmail.com, drijazbashir@gmail.com, website: www.pclapa.com).
Patients from Rawalpindi-Islamabad region, Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas can also be registered with Dr Akhtar Rahman in Islamabad, and operated upon in Gujrat.
Dr Ijaz Bashir said one out of every 530 children born in Pakistan suffer from cleft lip, cleft palate, or both.
The best results of cleft lip surgery can be ensured if the children are operated upon when they are three months to one-year-old.
The ideal age for cleft palate surgery is between the ages of six to eighteen months/
The PCLAPA also has invited volunteers of all age groups, especially students, from all cities to assist in its charitable work.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2010.
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