A number of cleft lip or cleft palate kids were operated upon here at a week-long free health camp, enabling them to get back to their normal life.
The camp was organized by Islamabad Cleft Lip and Plate Association (ICLAPA). The surgery was conducted by Plastic surgeon Dr Amanullah Raja. Parents along with 30 kids came here from far-flung areas of KPK, Azad Kashmir and Punjab for the treatment. Dr Aman travelled from UK to undertake the humanitarian task, said President of ICLAPA M. Aftab here Sunday at a news briefing. The camp is being organized on regular basis, as a permanent arrangement.
Now, it has been decided to build a specialized hospital for the general treatment of children along with mothers and child health-care facilities, he said adding, this could be done at the earliest if a proper piece of land is donated by government, Capital Development Authority or some philanthropists.
The hospital will provide free reconstructive surgery services to the poor patients at the national level. Foreign and Pakistani plastic surgeons along with their surgical teams are being invited on regular basis to treat the patients.
The Association is associated with the humanitarian task for years. Out of every 530 live births, one Pakistani child is born with a cleft lip or a left palate, or both who could be cured with timely proper care.
The ICLAPA also offers services such as instructing mothers on how to feed newborns with cleft lips and cleft palate, besides providing speech therapy and dental treatment of patients. “We also tried to reach to the under privileged people of the society in order to provide relief to the affected children”, he added.
M. Aftab further said they are also engaged in creating awareness among the general public about these congenital defects. He hoped that well-to-do of the society will come forward to support the organisation to serve the cause of ailing humanity.
ICLAPA’s Chief Coordinator Prof. Mrs. Farhat Akhtar Rehman and General Secretary Mrs. Mubeena Nasir explained on the occasion that the Association is not NGO, in fact we are a group of volunteers working for this noble cause.
Elaborating the seriousness of the disease, which affects thousands of children every year, they said the delay in timely treatment of cleft lip and palate patients can lead to further complications. They need to be treated at a very early stage age 3-4 months.
The plastic surgery camp will examine and treat registered patients from all regions of Pakistan. The registration is being carried out all around the year. The experts regularly check previously operated and treated patients, they added. Patients and interested persons may contact for treatment or any suggestion at telephone 051-2251275.