NEW DELHI, Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Smile Train India, the world’s largest cleft organization, announced their collaboration with The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), India’s largest association of gynaecologists and obstetricians, to drive early diagnosis and intervention for children with clefts, as early as the foetal stage by educating healthcare professionals.
The partnership with FOGSI aims to create more awareness and eliminate myths surrounding clefts so that parents of children with clefts are well informed and bring forward children for treatment at an early stage. In addition, Smile Train and FOGSI will work together to create and share Standard Medical Protocol for cleft lip and palate accessible by the entire Obstetric and Gynaecological community.
In India to celebrate Smile Train India’s 600,000th cleft surgery milestone, Susannah Schaefer, Executive Vice Chair, President & CEO, Smile Train, shared, “Clefts are often untreated due to lack of awareness about the treatment and myths associated with this birth difference. We are extremely happy to collaborate with FOGSI to increase awareness about cleft lip and palate in India. Diagnosis and treatment of cleft at an early stage can lead to improved quality of life for affected children. In the past 20 years, we have successfully supported 600,000 safe cleft surgeries in India. With this new milestone, the journey towards achieving one million smiles has begun. Our partnership with FOGSI aims to accelerate our work by driving early diagnosis and intervention of cleft lip and palate.”
Dr. Nandita Palshetkar, President, FOGSI, adds, “This collaboration will mark the launch of a very critical program. Since gynaecologists are the first point of contact for mothers, they play a critical role in identifying foetal anomalies. Developing a protocol for early diagnosis and intervention for cleft lip and palate will help drive better surgical outcomes and quality of life for cleft affected children.”
Mamta Carroll, Vice President & Regional Director, Asia, Smile Train, says, “Lack of awareness about cleft is a major roadblock in cleft treatment. It is critical to educate the medical fraternity, parents and the community at large to ensure they take early action to improve a child’s quality of life.”
