Free medical camp: Cleft lip, palate surgeries conducted at Pims
Camp to continue till tomorrow
A file photo of PIMS. PHOTO: SEHRISH WASIF/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
A three-day camp for cleft lips and palates started at the Neonatology and Paediatric Surgery Department of Shaheed Zuflikar Ali Bhutto Medical University on Thursday.
Neonatology and Paediatric Surgery Prof Amjad Chaudhry, told The Express Tribune that on the first day of the three-day camp 70 children were operated upon, majority of them belonging to the underprivileged class. He said that it was for the first time such a camp has been set up. The camp will conclude on Saturday.
“This surgery routinely costs around Rs100,000 but we have established this camp for all those parents who cannot afford and are conducting the operations free of cost,” said Prof Chaudhry. He said that cleft lips and palates were a common birth defect and could be addressed through a surgery.
“It is difficult to tell that how many children are born in the country with this defect as no study has been conducted so far,” he said.
“As a matter of routine, however, one to two children with this defect usually visit the outpatient department of the children’s hospital in 15 days or once in a month,” he said.
“At 9-12 months of age a cleft palate is usually repaired and its surgery takes 40 minutes to an hour,” said Chaudhry adding that a successful surgery repairs the defect forever.
The professor said that children with cleft lips faced multiple difficulties. They cannot feed from mother, are often undernourished, and develop hearing problems, dental issues and abnormal dental growth.
He said that such camp would be set up after every six months at Pims and parents could simply register their names with CNICs and get their children operated within next three days without being charged a single penny.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2015.
A three-day camp for cleft lips and palates started at the Neonatology and Paediatric Surgery Department of Shaheed Zuflikar Ali Bhutto Medical University on Thursday.
Neonatology and Paediatric Surgery Prof Amjad Chaudhry, told The Express Tribune that on the first day of the three-day camp 70 children were operated upon, majority of them belonging to the underprivileged class. He said that it was for the first time such a camp has been set up. The camp will conclude on Saturday.
“This surgery routinely costs around Rs100,000 but we have established this camp for all those parents who cannot afford and are conducting the operations free of cost,” said Prof Chaudhry. He said that cleft lips and palates were a common birth defect and could be addressed through a surgery.
“It is difficult to tell that how many children are born in the country with this defect as no study has been conducted so far,” he said.
“As a matter of routine, however, one to two children with this defect usually visit the outpatient department of the children’s hospital in 15 days or once in a month,” he said.
“At 9-12 months of age a cleft palate is usually repaired and its surgery takes 40 minutes to an hour,” said Chaudhry adding that a successful surgery repairs the defect forever.
The professor said that children with cleft lips faced multiple difficulties. They cannot feed from mother, are often undernourished, and develop hearing problems, dental issues and abnormal dental growth.
He said that such camp would be set up after every six months at Pims and parents could simply register their names with CNICs and get their children operated within next three days without being charged a single penny.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2015.