International NGO, Operation Smile, is undertaking the medical surgery as part of its worldwide programmes to reach out to millions across the world living with the deformity, who suffer isolation and discrimination in their respective communities.

In order to help raise aware­ness and funds for Operation Smile for the corrective surgeries, adventurers, David Grier and Andrew Stuart, will be running 160 kms in four days along the coastline starting at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and finish at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

One cleft operation is estimat­ed to cost GH? 700.
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“David and Andrew are no strangers to epic undertakings: in 2018, they ran roughly 4, 200 kms along the entire length of The Great Wall of China, also to raise funds for much-needed cleft surgeries,” a Press release issued in Accra and copied by the Ghanaian Times on what the organisers said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cipla Africa, Paul Miller, who signed the statement, said “Our philosophy is to do well while doing good. We are exploring opportunities to make a positive impact for people in local communities, starting with the launch of Miles for Smiles in Ghana to help with funding for life-changing surgeries.

A smile is a promise of peace, and the first sign of love. A smile is the most inexpensive gift and yet the most valuable. It’s an un­spoken language – learnt by none and understood by all. That’s why Cipla wants to help ensure that no child is left behind.”

At the beginning of March, he said a speech surgical programme was held at the Korle-Bu Teach­ing Hospital in Accra with the support of the team of local and international volunteers, Operation Smile Ghana screened 64 patients and performed 34 surgeries, with the goal of enhancing the speech of patients who had previously received cleft palate surgery.

Approximately one in every 1,000 babies in African is born with a cleft lip or palate. In Ghana specifically, it is estimated that one in every 760 children are born with a cleft condition.

One in 10 children born with a cleft will die before their first birthday. Those that survive are often malnourished exposing them to frequent infections. They also struggle with speech difficulties, and are frequent­ly ostracised because of their appearance.

For these children, a relative­ly quick operation results in a life-changing smile. The Cipla Foundation initiative, Miles for Smiles, through Operation Smile, strives to ensure that every child with a cleft lip or palate has ac­cess to this level of surgical care.