Twenty children and two adults have a reason to smile after receiving life-changing cleft lip and palate surgery performed by Operation Smile SA in conjunction with the Eastern Cape health department.
The operations, provided for free to the patients, were performed at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha from Friday to Sunday by a dedicated team of 37 Operation Smile volunteers, assisted by the department’s clinicians.
Anaesthetists, paediatricians, reconstructive and plastic surgeons and other medical officers worked tirelessly with departmental clinicians led by the hospital’s head of plastic surgery, Dr Viwe Nogaga.
“Now she can smile because before the procedure children at school teased her because she couldn’t pronounce certain words.”
— Lumnka Ntingana
A cleft palate is a congenital abnormality which occurs if the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join together completely during pregnancy.
It is estimated that, worldwide, a child is born every three minutes with a cleft condition, which makes it difficult for them to smile, speak and eat.
Operation Smile SA programme manager, Fiola Lujabe, said 36 patients were initially screened for the procedures, with 22 operated on successfully.
“There’s a high influx of patients in the public healthcare space and we are here to relieve public healthcare.
“We work closely with the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital to identify the patients that need these surgeries,” Lujabe said.
Nogaga said patients who were not operated on were too young, and some were underweight.
“These patients will now be monitored — constantly checking their improvement in order for them to be fit for the operation,” said Nogaga.
Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth’s spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase, said Meth praised Operation Smile SA’s work.
Meth was also grateful for the collaboration that continued to help indigent families in the rural outskirts.
“This partnership with Operation Smile was formalised when the MEC signed a memorandum of understanding last year in Mthatha.
“The department is committed to ensuring we continue to form such partnerships with organisations such as Operation Smile SA and other great partners we have in the country,” Ndamase said.
He said Meth hoped Operation Smile volunteers would return to the province to change more people’s lives for the better.
Lumnka Ntingana, 33, from Flagstaff, brought her eight-year-old daughter for a follow-up procedure after she had cleft palate corrective surgery in 2023.
Ntingana said it had restored her daughter’s dignity.
“Now she can smile because before the procedure children at school teased her because she couldn’t pronounce certain words,” Ntingana said.
Khanyisa Mambula, from Tsolo, was hugely grateful that her three-year-old daughter received cleft lip corrective surgery.
Mambula said she wanted to raise awareness about the condition, as mothers were often blamed for it.
“We need to educate the community that this is not caused by the mother.
“But I am so grateful my child will have a chance to live her life like a normal child,” said Mambula.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.