SHRI on mission to restore smiles of cleft patients
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, January 22 2022: When Sholula gave birth to her baby girl Hanlumla one year ago, she was distraught and worried because her child was born with cleft lip and palate.

The mother could not take her daughter out of the house without dodging stares and whispers.

Working as a daily wager, the parents could not afford any treatment.

Sholula, who hails from Shamator village in Tuensang district of Nagaland heard about free cleft lip and palate surgery to be done at Shija Hospitals through Oking Hospital, Kohima.

They took a tedious journey to Kohima staying overnight in a neighbouring village till they got transported to Kohima.

A release by Shija Hospitals and Research Institute (SHRI) business development deputy manager Takhellambam Premku-mar said this is just one of the ten other such cleft & lip palate patients who have been suffering and were not able to afford any treatment.

However, it said under the Smile Train Shija Cleft Project Imphal, Smile Train India and Oking Hospital Kohima jointly reached out to the cleft lip and palate patients of Nagaland and gave them a new lease of life by rendering free of cost corrective surgery, free medicine, accommodation and travel allowances.

Smile Train India in collaboration with the Smile Train Shija Cleft Project team sent a 41-seater bus with four of its staff to pick up the awaiting cleft patients from Oking Hospital, Kohima on January 17.Ten patients and their attendants with negative RT-PCR reports were chauffeured to Imphal and got admitted to SHRI for corrective surgery on the same day.

After successful completion of the corrective surgeries by the Smile Train Partnered Experts at SHRI, all the patients and their attendants were tested for COVID 19 and ferried back to the Oking Hospital on January 20 in the same bus accompanied by Shija Smile Makers.

Most of the patients were from remote villages of Nagaland who had to travel more than 350 km by road and took about two days just to reach the partnered hospital in Kohima, said the release.

It also said that Smile Train had partnered with Shija in 2006 and since then the programme has been named Smile Train Shija Cleft Project.

Under the project, more than 649 cleft patients from Nagaland have availed the free treatment and more than 4000 free cleft surgeries have been successfully performed till date.

Mention may be made cleft lip and cleft palate are openings or splits in the upper lip, the roof of the mouth (palate) and are among the most common birth defects.

Cleft Lip should be corrected from the age of 6 months onwards and Cleft Palate from 14 months onwards to achieve the best results.

Research reveals that three infants with a cleft are born every hour in India.

Children born with clefts have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking.

The SHRI release also informed cleft patients who want to avail the free corrective surgery may call Oking Hospital, Kohima (0370 2290080, 9436000494) or Smile Train Shija Cleft Project, Imphal (9436869799, 9436235270) .

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