Operation Smile has restored the dignity of about 80 children who suffered cleft lips and palates during its Ho Teaching Hospital Mission in the Volta Region.

A team of multinational health experts repaired the cleft lips and palates of these children, drawn from across the country, giving them hope and a chance as they would be able to integrate into society.

Stigma associated with the condition

A Cleft lip or palate is recorded in every 1,000 to 1,200 births in Africa, and is far more common in the Far East, where a case is recorded in every 500 births.

These deformities are wrongly associated with stigma due to ignorance and societal misconceptions, with people identifying such children as spirit children or the mothers as adulterers.

However, research revealed that a cleft lip or palate is caused by either a genetic abnormality of the parents passed down to the child, a lack of certain minerals, or exposure to some chemicals during pregnancy.

It further indicated that the older the parents, the higher the chances of giving birth to children with cleft lips and palates, which affects the feeding and speech of the child.

Children with cleft palates are prone to growth disorders, infections, among other childhood illnesses since they are not able to breastfeed with their cleft lips and palates.

Cleft lip and palate are health complications

A Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Country Medical Director of Operation Smile Ghana, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, asserted that cleft lip and palate are health complications, debunking the societal misconceptions which had led to stigma and abuse.

“We want to use the media to educate everyone that these conditions are common. When you see people like that, let them know that there is help available”, he said.

He added that children born with a cleft lip or palate are not deprived mentally, as is being circulated, urging the public to accept and support them to develop and feel part of society.

“These children normally have intellectual function. I have seen children who were born with clefts who are now doctors, journalists, and very useful people in society. Let us not create an environment where, when people are born with certain defects or deformities, they would be made to look like they are not going to be of any use. Let us all rally round them when we see people with such a problem and let us direct them appropriately because there is help available”, he said.

Surgical remedy of cleft Lip and palate

Dr Ampomah explained that a cleft lip can easily be corrected within 3 to 6 months after a child's birth, while a cleft palate can be repaired between 9 to 18 months.

“But we recommend that by the age of 4, the palate could have been repaired. This is because, when children are learning how to talk, they are practising how to make certain sounds.”

“So, when you grow up to a certain age, and the palate has not been fixed, the speech pattern becomes hard-wired into the brain. That means it becomes very difficult for them to correct even if you do the surgery later on”, he warned.

Prevention of cleft lip and palate

Dr Ampomah advised that fertile women should not ignore signs of pregnancy and access health care to ascertain their conditions before administering any drug.

He explained that women in their fertile age and sexually active sometimes associate pregnancy symptoms with malaria or any communicable disease and take drugs that may affect the development of their babies.

“The roof of the mouth of the baby is formed between the first six to eight weeks of pregnancy, and many women at that time are not even sure that they are pregnant”, he said.

He advised that women within the fertile age should endeavour to take in regular vitamins to prevent putting to bed children with such conditions and also “consider giving birth early”.

Capacity building

He said that children with cleft lip or palate need concerted efforts from various health professionals to get the best services and have their conditions corrected.

He added that this approach has helped Operation Smile to build the capacity of health professionals across the country, leading to Ghanaian professionals travelling to more deprived African and Asian countries to deliver care and training.

He appreciated the collaborations between his outfit, the Ministry of Health, and other organisations to ensure the beneficiaries were operated on at no cost, where their transport, feeding, medical services, and accommodation were catered for.

The Country Director of Operation Smile Ghana, Peter Titiati, said his outfit, which operates in over 35 countries globally, is excited to extend its services to these vulnerable children and their mothers to put smiles on their faces.

He said that his outfit aims at building the capacity of local health practitioners “so we don't have to bring in specialists from outside to do surgeries in the next two years”.

Mr Titiati said the team decided to go beyond its target of 60 cases during the Ho Mission due to its unique location, adding the Mission would increase its visits to Ho.

Parents appreciation

Zinabu Ahmed, whose child had her cleft lip repaired, appreciated the benevolence of Operation Smile, adding that “I am relieved from the gossip and false accusations from people around me.”

Edith Asante, another mother, lamented how she suffered stigma and verbal abuse in her community, hoping the narrative would change when she arrived with her child, who had her cleft palate corrected.