Smile Train’s mobile speech app wins silver at 57th Anvil awards

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – Smile Train’s first ever Filipino Mobile Speech Application and other health programs won a silver for the second consecutive year in the recently concluded 57^th Anvil Awards.

   

According to Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Vice President, Smile Train South East Asia, the Filipino mobile speech application is free and downloadable on both Apple and Google Play Store. Visit https://smiletrainspeechapp.com/ for more feature details.

“As Smile Train strives to create a brighter future for Filipinos born with a cleft, we are grateful to receive this recognition for the second time as this is a testament of our organization’s efforts to bring uninterrupted care and convenient access to patients amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” Flaviano said.

There are more than 5,000 babies in the Philippines born with cleft lip and or plate every year and access to speech therapy remains vital to these children.  The first Filipino speech therapy mobile application is a platform that allows more patients with a cleft to continue receibing comprehensive cleft care with ease via the smartphones.

Flaviano said the program was launched in 2020 and it has treated over 300 patients, providing them with more than 2,000 cleft care-related sessions—including speech therapy, nutritional support, breastfeeding guidance for mothers of babies with clefts, pre-surgical consultations, and psychosocial care.

From 2020 to 2021, Smile Train and its 26 partners supported a total of 2,125 sessions for over 223 individuals for speech services alone. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, patients still have access to Smile Train’s services and are still able to schedule surgeries in partner hospitals.

Flaviano said that Smile Train continues to explore various ways and use technology for a more comprehensive cleft care in the country.

“All these programs built on the earlier successes of Smile Train’s efforts at the onset of the pandemic, notably Speech Camp 2020, which is a series of virtual therapy classes and discussions conducted by speech language pathologists and medical professionals,” Flaviano bared. (Photos: Smile Train/Google Images)