TrollDental are proud to support

Operation Cleft

In Bangladesh, one of the poorest counties in the world, it is estimated that over 300,000 people have an untreated cleft lip and/or palate. These facial deformities can lead to severe infection, deafness, dental problems, malnutrition through difficulty in eating, inability to speak clearly and social isolation.

For most, a simple, low cost operation can change their life but because the condition is not considered life threatening, it is not covered under Bangladesh’s public health system. Subsequently hundreds of thousands of people go through life with this affliction simply because they cannot afford the surgery.

Operation Cleft is committed to improving the life prospects of the children of Bangladesh by providing free reconstructive surgery to repair cleft lips and palates. The project has developed a clear five-year strategic plan that has expanded its original focus, primarily the repair of cleft lips and palates, to a more holistic and sustainable approach.  

The Operation Cleft total care package now includes post-operative speech therapy for children between the ages of three and eight. This service, the first of its kind in Bangladesh, ensures best possible patient outcomes and will ultimately become a self-sufficient addition to Bangladesh’s public health system.

To date Operation Cleft has changed more than 4,500 lives and over the next 12 months, is committed to funding a minimum of 1,000 more cleft operations:

• Eight surgeons in Bangladesh committed to ten operations a month.
• The Operation Cleft team of eight local surgeons will each complete 10 operations a month at various clinics and hospitals throughout Bangladesh
• Up to four “Surgical camps”   - The same team of surgeons comes together to operate intensively over a one week period repairing between 50 and 100 clefts. Surgical camps may be held at Queens Hospital in Jessore, Lion Mukhlesur Rahman Hospital, Chittagong, or Lamb Hospital, Saidpur
• Up to four “speech therapy outreach programs” providing:

• Community Health worker training in speech therapy as a follow up to cleft surgery
• Individual assessment and treatment of children post cleft palate repair
• An opportunity for parent support and counseling
• An opportunity to arrange secondary surgery if required

Operation Cleft has a commitment to developing in-country sustainability of the project through:
 A three year partnership agreement with a local Non-Government Organisation (NGO) in Dhaka - CDD (Centre for Disability in Development)

• Establishment of in-country project team and administration infrastructure
• On going training of surgeons
• Ongoing training of local speech and language therapists (SLTs)
• Ongoing training of community health workers

With your support, we will continue to change the lives of

underprivileged children in Bangladesh

www.operationcleft.org.au