Dutch doctors conduct free cleft lip surgeries for Lao people
 
The Mahosot Hospital under the Ministry of Health will offer free surgeries for patients with cleft lip and palate, burns from fire or hot water, and malformed limbs during January 7-21 with the cooperation of experts from the Netherlands.
The assistance is being provided by the Netherlands’ Bridge the Gap Foundation under its cleft lip and palate surgeries project.

A doctor from the Netherlands (centre) conducts a hands-on lecture and training on cleft-lip surgeries for Laos doctors and nurses.

The Dutch team will also provide free transportation and accommodation for provincial patients. Normally, the cost of such surgery and transportation is about US$100 per person. This price is very high for poor people.
Cleft lip and cleft palate or both are the most common orofacial congenital malformations among live births. The causes of these are not clear but have a trend that includes two etiological factors - genetic and environmental. The incidence rate of cleft lip and palate is similar in every country worldwide, and it stands at approximately one to two per 1,000 newborns, health experts said.
Doctors from the Bridge the Gap Foundation organise free cleft lip and palate surgeries for children in Laos every year. Bridge the Gap doctors have been visiting Laos over the past 15 years.
This year, the corrective surgeries for an estimated 150 patients will be carried out by doctors of Mahosot Hospital with advice from the doctors from the Netherlands.
Patients aged between five and 30 years are eligible for the medical operations. Registration for the free medical treatment can be made at the Ear, Nose, and Throat Section of the Hospital before January 7.
Cleft lip and palate surgery is generally performed in infancy to allow for improvements in esthetics, suckling and speech disorders as quickly as possible.
Local volunteers for Bridge the Gap in Laos will assist the medical team in spreading the word about their trip and have started collecting donations to help patients, who are mostly young children, and their families from all across the country to travel to Vientiane and return after the surgeries.
The foundation has also provided an autoclave, laryngoscopes and medical equipment and supplies worth about US$80,000 to Mittaphab Hospital, which first began treating cleft lip and palate patients in 1998. Since then, various overseas medical organisations have collaborated with the hospital.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
 (Latest Update January 5, 2024)