Ghana to benefit from cleft lip, palate management project

Saturday, July 10, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 13)

By Rebecca Kwei
TRANSFORMING Faces Worldwide (TFW), a Canadian charity which helps cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries, has extended its operations in Ghana for the next three years.
At a press briefing on the operations of the Cleft Lip and Palate Management Project (CLPMP), Ghana, the non-governmental organisation which had been working in the country since 2002 revealed that it has so far supported about 500 patients through surgery and a larger number of patients have received multi-disciplinary services.
The project which is located at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre (RPSBC) at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital draws various health experts from both public and private health institutions to form a multi-disciplinary team.
Cleft lip and palate is a congenital anomaly or defect which causes a split of the lip and/or the roof of the mouth; a defect which allows someone to look into the mouth of a patient without the patient opening the mouth. Parents who want a ‘perfect baby’ are usually shocked when they are presented with such babies.
Problems associated with the defect are related to appearance, social stigma, failure to name the child, child not sent for immunisations, child not being sent to school, some not being allowed to live and also being abandoned by parents, mostly their fathers.
Medical problems linked with cleft lip are feeding problems, repeated ear infections, speech problems, hearing problems, learning difficulties, as well as other congenital problems such as heart, skeletal and genital problems.
According to Mr James Hottor, a representative of TFW, the NGO supports cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries by providing funds for medical supplies, treatment and training of local cleft specialists among others.
He said TFW has projects in Bulgaria, Peru, Argentina, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, China and Thailand.
He said the goal of CLPMP, Ghana, was to evolve and sustain a comprehensive cleft lip and palate management in Ghana, pursue partnerships for the sustenance of the project and also provide assistance to poor persons with cleft lip and palate management.
The Executive Director of TFW, Mr Esteban Lasso, said close to 90,000 interventions have been performed for more than 6,000 patients.
These included reconstructive surgery, speech therapy, hearing tests and aids, breastfeeding counselling, dentistry/orthodontics, nutritional support, psychological counselling, ear, nose and throat (ENT) services.
He said a child was born with a cleft lip and palate every 11 minutes and that in many developing countries, access to multidisciplinary treatment was limited or lacking in quality.
Other challenges, he said, had to do with the ‘brain drain’ of local medical specialists which undermined the development of cleft centres and the fact that cleft lip and palate was a low priority for the overburdened health systems as well as limited funds.
He said there was, therefore, the need for long-term partnerships to build multidisciplinary teams and emphasis placed on building local capacity and training.
Dr Albert Paintsil, a member of the CLPMP, Ghana, said the cleft lip and palate defect occurred during the development of the face of the foetus in the first three months of pregnancy.
He noted that most mothers may not be aware of the pregnancy during that time and may engage in activities such as intake of alcohol and certain drugs, smoking, anticonvulsants, retinoic acid, steroids, lack of folic acid and vitamins and some herbal concoctions which may increase the risk factors of the baby developing the defect.
He said defects in the genetic material passed on to the child from the parents was also a factor.
Dr Paintsil emphasised that cleft lip and palate was not the result of witchcraft, unfaithfulness on the part of the woman, curse or the effect of a ‘bad look’ during pregnancy.