Smile Train Joins Ghana In Independence Day Celebrations, Calls For More Awareness on Clefts
March 6th 2024 — Accra, Ghana - Smile Train President and CEO, Susannah Schaefer takes part in Ghana’s Independence Day celebrations, calling for more awareness on clefts.
Speaking during the celebrations hosted in Accra, Schaefer noted that many patients with clefts live in shame and isolation, yet free treatment is available within their local community.
She said, “Lack of awareness, inadequate training of medical professionals and insufficient prioritization of safe surgery and anaesthesia care by decision-makers remain the greatest barriers to access to safe surgery and anaesthesia care in Sub-Saharan Africa. As Ghana celebrates Independence Day, Smile Train, through its partner network is ensuring that children born with cleft can receive free, safe, timely and quality cleft treatment when they need it most.”
On his part, Ghana Cleft Foundation Board Member Dr. Solomon Obiri Yeboah added that Smile Train partner hospitals across Ghana can provide comprehensive cleft care locally all year round saying, “Beyond surgery, children with clefts can receive nutrition and speech therapy care here at no cost, enabling them to become more productive. We encourage the community to shun stigma and misconceptions surrounding clefts and come for free treatment.”
Smile Train, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary has provided free safe cleft care in 70+ countries globally, transforming the lives of close to 2 million patients. Since 2002, Smile Train in Africa has worked with more than 700 local partner hospitals and over 300 medical partners in 42 countries to provide free cleft treatment. To date, Smile Train’s local medical partners have provided more than 170,000 life-changing cleft surgeries in the region. Smile Train actively started its programs in Ghana in 2004, creating smiles on more than 2,500 beneficiaries through its 9 partners.
To further elevate the standards of cleft care through education and training, Smile Train, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and Ghana Cleft Foundation are setting up Africa’s first Cleft Leadership Center (CLC) in Kumasi. The CLC will serve as a regional hub for cleft treatment, education, training, and research, presenting a holistic, team-centered model of care that encompasses surgery, speech therapy, nutritional support, orthodontics, and more. The CLC, whose construction is underway, is one of 5 centers of excellence globally that Smile Train has invested in.
“The CLC is one of our greatest investments yet, which leverages innovation and technology to make knowledge on cleft care accessible across the region. This in turn enhances the expertise of cleft care professionals and raises the quality of care across the continent,” noted Schaefer.
Every three minutes a child is born with a cleft. Cleft is a birth difference that affects the upper lip and/or roof of the mouth, making it difficult for children to breathe, eat, speak, or hear. Children with untreated clefts are often stigmatized, isolated, and bullied, which makes it hard for them to live a healthy and productive life. Smile Train focuses on the capacity building of medical professionals in the cleft ecosystem, including surgeons, anaesthesia providers, community health workers, and nurses.
With an estimated yearly cleft birth of over 750 (World Bank, 2017), children born with cleft lip and/or palate are still impacted by poverty, malnutrition, stigmatization, cultural misconceptions, and high cost of medical consumables due to inflation.
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About Smile Train
Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children's lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train's sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.
Press Contact:
Smile Train
Emily Manjeru
PR & Communications Manager, Africa
+254724 926 269
emanjeru@smiletrain.org