Smile Train - an international children’s NGO and Rashtriya Bal Kalyan Karyakram (RBSK), Ministry of Health, Madhya Pradesh have signed an MoU on November 22, 2016 to partner to reach out to children with clefts.
Under the partnership, RBSK officials in Madhya Pradesh will direct children born with cleft lips and palates to 10 Smile Train partner hospitals across Madhya Pradesh for free cleft lip and palate surgery. Smile Train will provide free cleft lip and palate surgeries and post-operative care to the children.
Since 2000, Smile Train has provided over 20,000 cleft repair surgeries, absolutely free of cost, in Madhya Pradesh alone. The partnership looks at intensifying outreach so that more children born with clefts can benefit from the free surgeries and get a chance to lead a normal life.
The surgeries will be provided at Smile Train centers across the state-Jabalpur (Ashish Hospital, Dube Surgical and Dental Hospital), Bhopal (Bisoniya Hospital, lake City Hospital), Gwalior (Cancer Hospital & Research Institute, Vedant Hospital), Ujjain (CHl Medical Center), Indore (CHl- Hospitals, Dolphin Hospital), and Padhar (Padhar Hospital).
The MoU was signed by Mission Director (NHM) BN Chauhan and Country Director - Smile Train India Renu Mehta in the presence of Minister Public Health & Family Welfare Rustam Singh.
While signing the MoU, Renu Mehta said “We are excited about partnering with RBSK in Madhya Pradesh. With the support of the large network of State mobile health teams and Aanganwari workers at the grass root level will enable Smile Train to reach out to every child born with cleft lip and palate in the State of Madhya Pradesh. More than 10 lakh untreated cases of cleft exist in the country, due to monetary constraints or lack of awareness. Slowly, we can bridge the gap and heal the cleft."