Gurugram/Faridabad News, November 01, 2019 : Smile Train India, the world’s largest children’s cleft charity, announced its partnership with Aarvy Hospital to support free cleft lip and palate surgeries in Gurgaon. Free cleft treatment will be available to patients all year round at the new cleft centre at Aarvy Hospital. The cleft surgeries will be performed by renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Raman Sethi, who has been associated with Smile Train since 2005.
Talking about the partnership, Sheila Koyyana, Program Manager, Smile Train India, said “There are millions of children born with cleft lip & palate around the world who need help, but can’t receive timely care due to monetary constraints and lack of awareness about its treatment. Through our journey in India our ‘Teach a man to fish’ model has empowered 300+ medical professionals and 150+ hospitals across India with funding, training and resources to provide 100% free cleft treatment in their communities. This approach helps create long lasting, robust and sustainable impact in cleft care. We are very happy to partner with Aarvy Hospital to help children born with clefts in Gurugram and neighbouring regions.”
Dr. Vikram Singh, Owner, Aarvy Hospital, said, “We are extremely happy and proud to be associated with Smile Train India to support world class comprehensive cleft care treatment to children born with cleft lip and palate, absolutely free of cost. Hundreds of thousands of children continue to live with untreated clefts due to ignorance and poverty. It is commendable that Smile Train actively focusses on comprehensive cleft care: pre-, post- and during surgery support such as speech, orthodontics, nutrition support”.
In India, it is estimated that more than 35,000 babies are born with clefts every year. Hundreds of thousands of children with untreated clefts live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking, as their families cannot afford the life-transforming cleft treatment. Smile Train India’s sustainable model focuses on training and empowering local medical professionals to provide 100% free cleft treatment in their own communities. Through this sustainable model, Smile Train India has supported more than 600,000 free cleft surgeries across India, through a network of 150+ partner hospitals.
