Smile Train, partners launch first comprehensive Cleft Care Center in Cebu

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY— Smile Train, a cleft charity institution with its log-time partner Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, and Allegiant Regional Care (ARC) Hospitals virtually launched Wednesday, July 21 its first Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) center in Cebu at the ground floor of ARC hospital in Lapulapu City in line with the organization’s 20^th year in the country.   

  

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally.  It also provides comprehensive cleft care to empower individuals with a cleft while putting smiles on their faces, according to Smile Train South East Asia Vice-President Kimmy Coseteng Flaviano in her message during the virtual launching event.

 “We are grateful for our longstanding partner, Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, and our newly-formed partnership with ARC Hospitals to establish the first Comprehensive Cleft Care Center in Cebu.  We are confident that through this partnership, we will be able to reach more Filipinos who have been affected with a cleft and in need of comprehensive support,” Flaviano said.

Smile Train has partnered with over 50 hospitals and organizations in the Philippines since 2001 which afforded the organization to support more than 64,000 cleft surgeries nationwide and the goal is to reach as many cleft children and families as possible in the region, she added.

 

According to Melody Ledesma, Country Director, Mabuhay Deseret Foundation that there are an estimated 5,000 cleft births per year in the country and 16 or more surgeries per month are done in Cebu alone with only two doctors.

“We hope to have more operations in the future with more doctors with the opening of the CCC here in Cebu. We hope to open 68 more cleft centers around the country as we are receiving more than 4,000 inquiries from parents/patients,” Ledesma said.

Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, a non-profit organization that facilitates medical treatment and care for those in need, including those born with a cleft, has been a partner of Smile Train since 2008 and have been providing cleft care for patients in Bataan, Palawan, Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

“We are more than grateful to be a part of this exciting journey and continue to support the organization in reaching more communities in the country,” Ledesma added.

ARC Hospital, located in Lapu-Lapu City, was established in 2015.  It aspires to improve access to quality healthcare in the country by forging partnerships with internationally recognized organizations to be able to provide advance and world-class services to the patients they serve.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to help Cebuanos access cleft care all-year round. This partnership will allow all of us to be able to provide timely, safe and quality comprehensive cleft care treatment for the many patients who are depending on us,” according to Dr. Alex Alegrado, Medical Director, Allegiant Regional Care (ARC) Hospitals Inc.

Through these partnerships, comprehensive cleft care services will be made more accessible to cleft-affected individuals and families not only in Cebu but the rest of Central Visayas, Ledesma said.

According to Flaviano that the launch of the Cleft Center at ARC Hospital marks a new milestone for Smile Train in the Philippines as the organization continues to expand the number of its comprehensive cleft centers (CCCs) across the country as a way to reach more Filipinos in need.

This goes together with the country’s first Filipino speech therapy mobile application which Smile Train has recently launched during the pandemic, as a response to the need of patients and families to receive comprehensive cleft care at the safety and comfort of their homes.

For more information about Smile Train’s global efforts and to donate, please visit smiletrain.org. To learn more about Smile Train’s local programs in the Philippines, please visit smiletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like them on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines.

The Smile Train Philippines mobile application can be downloaded via Google Play and App Store. (Photos: Google Images)