Summary:
Chennai: In India it is estimated that more than 35000 babies are born with clefts every year. Hundreds of thousands of children with untreated clefts live in isolation but more importantly have difficulty eating breathing hearing and speaking as their families cannot afford the life-transforming cleft treatment. In a bid to drive early diagnosis and intervention for children with clefts as early as the fetal stage by educating healthcare professionals world's largest cleft organisation Smile Train has tied up with Chennai-based Saveetha Medical College and Hospital. The partnership aims to create more awareness and eliminate myths surrounding clefts so that parents of children with clefts are well informed and bring forward children for treatment at an early stage. This collaboration will help support free cleft surgery to many underprivileged children in the South region of India and especially in Tamilnadu..