For decades, children born with cleft lip and palate across Ghana and much of Africa have lived in the shadows, stigmatized, isolated, and in many cases, dangerously misunderstood.

But a historic step has been taken to rewrite that narrative in Africa. The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in partnership with the Ghana Cleft Foundation and Global Cleft Charity Smile Train, has commissioned the continent’s first National Cleft Care Centre.

The ultramodern facility has an Out-Patient Department and consulting rooms, 4 theatres with pre-operative and post-operative wards, laboratories, stores, lecture halls, library, technical services working area and a playground.

Fully funded by Smile Train at a cost of $2 million, the facility is located within the precincts of KATH and is designed to offer corrective surgery and a full spectrum of comprehensive cleft care, including nutrition support, speech therapy, orthodontics, oral health, and psychosocial counseling.

Acting Head of the new Centre and Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Solomon Obiri-Yeboah, noted “there’s a lot of stigma about these children because of the deformity on their face. Some can’t go to school, and their mothers are sometimes rejected by families.

“But a child born with cleft is as normal as everybody. We’ve encountered cases where fathers have abandoned their families, and children were nearly sacrificed to river gods. But a child born with a cleft is as normal as any other. They just need care”.

The Centre’s inauguration is more than a medical milestone; it is a social and cultural reckoning. For years, cleft conditions in many African communities have been falsely linked to curses, spiritual punishment, or bad omens.

Some children have been hidden indoors, abandoned, or even harmed because of these beliefs. But the facility at KATH signaled a bold new chapter.

“Every child that is born with a cleft deserves to live a full and healthy life. This is a treatable condition, not a curse. One in every 1,200 people of African descent is born with cleft. It’s the second most common congenital condition in the world. We’ve now built the first cleft centre in Africa, right here in Ghana, and we’re committed to changing lives across the continent,” said Mrs. Nkeiruka Obi, Vice-President and Regional Director for Africa at Smile Train.

The new Centre offers a full spectrum of cleft care services from surgery and speech therapy to nutritional support, orthodontics, oral health, and psychosocial services. It is also set to become a continental training hub for cleft care professionals.

Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, speaking at the ceremony, emphasized the deeper meaning behind the centre’s opening.

“This is not just a ribbon-cutting. It’s a celebration of compassion, science, and equity. Today we open a door to inclusion and reaffirm every child’s right to smile without shame and to live without stigma,” he explained.

Among the most moving moments were the testimonies from patients and families whose lives had been transformed.

“Smile Train didn’t just help me medically—they helped me live again. The Komfo Anokye team truly placed a smile on my face - one I never thought I could wear,” said one young woman who received surgery and orthodontic treatment through the program.

A mother whose son had cleft shared an emotional appeal to other parents:

“My 7-year-old had a cleft, but today we smile. I want to tell every parent, don’t hide your child. Don’t let anyone tell you they are cursed. There is help. There is hope,” she advised.

The event was attended by health professionals, government officials, patients, children and parents from across Africa, all united by a shared goal: to end the silence, dispel the myths, and replace stigma with smiles.