GHANA CLEFT FOUNDATION LAUNCHED (PAGE 20)

THE Ghana Cleft Foundation was last Saturday launched in Kumasi, with the primary objective of soliciting adequate financial support from the public to enable the Cleft Clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) sustain medical care being provided to babies born with deformities at the mouth and parts of their faces.
The KATH Cleft Clinic, established in 2003, has so far performed surgical operations on more than 400 children and adults suffering from cleft and palate deformities, but inadequate financial resources and other constraints are militating against effective provision of quality medical care to other victims.
Cleft refers to children born with splits in their lips, gums or in the roofs of their mouth.
The condition is referred to as cleft lip or palate, depending on which part of the body was affected, and victims with such deformities find it difficult to live normal lifestyles due to the challenges they face in their daily lives.
Launching the foundation, the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, commended authorities of KATH for their sense of initiative, which saw them establishing the clinic to provide efficient medical care to victims who would otherwise have suffered rejection from their immediate families, neighbours and the general public.
He said establishment of the clinic marked another milestone "in our quest for advancement in the field of modern medicine to correct deformities of babies born with splits in their lips, gums or in the roofs of their mouth, making life more threatening to them”.
He said the launch of the Ghana Cleft Foundation had come at an opportune time, because it would help mobilise adequate resources that would enable the clinic to "reach out to more needy people born with mouth deformities".
Mr Odoom pointed out that with the foundation, the medical team at the clinic would also be able to embark on sustainable outreach programmes to sensitise the public to the nature of the deformities, "conduct regular research, train volunteers and work with local community leaders to identify babies affected by the deformities, so that early support could be given to them".
He explained that but for the generosity of the medical team, they would have not been able to reach out to many more victims. He, therefore, assured them of the "ministry's total commitment and support in terms of its budget to the foundation".
This, he said, would make it possible for them to reach out to many victims, especially those in the rural communities across the country to enable many people to access their services at a minimal cost.
"The issue of rejection by families, even to the point of losing their lives, being laughed at and bullied in schools, forcing them to drop out of schools, are a few of the many challenges that those affected must confront with," he added.
Mr Odoom, therefore, appealed to the public to make generous financial and material contributions to the foundation to make it possible for babies and adults suffering from cleft and palate deformities have easy access to medical services.
In his welcoming address, the President of the Ghana Cleft Foundation, Professor Peter Donkor, said the foundation would play an advocacy role, not only to solicit for adequate financial support to provide quality medical care to babies with deformed mouth and faces, but would also sensitise the public to appreciate the need to seek early medical care for cleft and palate victims.
He pointed out that in as much as expectant mothers cherished giving birth to bouncy babies, some of the babies were likely to turn the happiness of their mothers into sadness when they had such deformities at their mouths and other parts of their faces, but gave assurance that with early medical care, the deformities could be corrected to make life more meaningful and enjoyable to the victims.
Prof. Donkor recalled the rationale behind the establishment of the Cleft Clinic at the KATH five years ago, and said their initiatives had brought much joy to parents who attempted to kill their babies due to the numerous challenges that confronted them.
"Some of the babies with cleft and palate deformities looked more like monsters at birth, but we succeeded in turning them into bouncing babies to bring smiles back to their mothers, and that is what we want to continue doing for babies who may have such deformities at birth," he explained.
Prof. Donkor noted that about 300 babies born each year in the country had such deformities, and since their parents might not have the financial resources to correct the deformities, it was important for the public to support them by making regular contributions to the foundation.