Fifty children born with cleft lip and cleft palate have received free surgeries at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital as Operation Smile Ghana intensifies efforts to make specialised cleft care accessible to children in the Central Region and beyond.
The week-long surgical programme followed the screening of about 110 patients and forms part of Operation Smile’s continuous campaign to provide comprehensive care to children living with the condition.
The Country Manager of Operation Smile Ghana, Peter Titiati, said the organisation performed about 340 cleft surgeries last year and was targeting about 420 surgeries this year.
He said the surgeries were intended not only to correct the physical condition but also to restore the confidence and dignity of children who often faced stigma and exclusion because of their appearance.
“Cleft is treatable,” Mr Titiati said, and stressed that the condition had no bearing on a child’s intelligence or ability to succeed in life.
He said stigma prevented some children with cleft lip and palate from attending school, while others faced medical complications that could affect their growth and survival.
According to him, babies with the condition could have difficulty breastfeeding, lose weight and develop other complications, including ear infections.
He said the social consequences could also be severe, with some children hidden from society instead of being supported to live normal lives.
Mr Titiati, therefore, urged parents of children born with cleft lip or palate to seek medical assistance rather than resort to traditional or spiritual explanations for the condition.
He also appealed to corporate Ghana to support the programme, saying the cost of many of the surgeries was currently being supported by organisations and partners outside Ghana.
The programme is supported by organisations including CEPLA Ghana Pharmaceuticals, Nissan Auto Parts, DHL Global Logistics and Misa Energy.
The Country Medical Director of Operation Smile Ghana and plastic surgeon, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, said cleft was a common birth condition occurring in about one in every 1,000 to 1,200 births in Ghana.
He said Operation Smile had since 2011 invested in building local capacity to ensure that Ghana had medical personnel capable of providing specialised cleft care.
Dr Ampomah said the organisation initially relied heavily on foreign volunteers but had over the years trained Ghanaian surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and other health professionals.
He said it had now expanded its training to medical personnel from other African countries in cleft-care techniques.
“Cape Coast Teaching Hospital is at a point where they have all the expertise in terms of surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and so on,” he said.
Dr Ampomah said the hospital was expected to begin an independent cleft-care programme before the end of the year, and described the development as an important step towards decentralising specialised care.
He explained that bringing cleft care closer to patients would reduce the cost and inconvenience associated with travelling long distances for treatment, particularly for families from the Central and Western regions.
Former cleft patient
For a former cleft patient and Operation Smile volunteer, Victoria Yaba Gumanga, the condition goes beyond its physical appearance because of the stigma attached to it.
Ms Gumanga, who was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate, said growing up with the condition had not been easy.
Having undergone one surgery and preparing for another, she said her experience had strengthened her commitment to supporting children living with the condition.
One parent who brought his child for treatment, Mr Andrew, said the condition had exposed the child to ridicule, particularly at school.
He said the child was sometimes mocked for the way he spoke and was even told that he spoke “like a ghost”, leading to frequent confrontations with other children.
The parent expressed gratitude to Operation Smile for treating his child at no cost and urged other parents with children living with cleft to seek medical help rather than allow stigma to prevent them from accessing treatment.
