HUMANITARIAN CLEFT MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA - EXPERIENCE AND SUGGESTIONS

This paper is to report and share our experience regarding the cleft missions in the developing world. In October 2009, an international organization, Smile Train Italia, helping children with cleft lip and palate, arranged a humanitarian mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo. We operated 93 Patients with Cleft lip and Palate during our stay in the Kinshasa university Hospital Congo. A total of 93 patients were operated in which 70% were with unilateral cleft lip,6.45% patients were with bilateral cleft lip & 37.6% patients were with cleft palate. It is the right of every child to speak and smile especially those who born with Cleft lip and Palate. This should be the ultimate goal of all humanitarian Cleft missions working in the developing countries.