Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

THE University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) announced that it will provide free cleft lip and palate surgeries for 40 children from needy families across the country in December.

Qualified children will receive the surgeries from Dec. 9 to 13 and the application period will end Dec. 5.

Joe Fan, assistant hospital chief executive of HKU-SZH, said the hospital has initiated 10 charity campaigns to offer free diagnoses and treatments for children with cleft lip and palate, most of whom are from poverty-stricken families or welfare centers, since it launched the program in June 2015.

The campaign has helped a total of 301 children so far, according to Fan. Some children from welfare centers have even been adopted by loving families after receiving the surgeries.

“More than 30 families have signed up since we announced the news on our hospital’s official WeChat account at the end of October. At present, there are only a few slots left. Families with children in need can register by phone or email,” said Fan.

There are three ways to register. Families can call or send a text message to (+86) 18326583014, send an email to smile@hku-szh.org or call 0755-86913333 ext. 2899.

When signing up, parents are required to provide the name, gender, date of birth and weight of the child, as well as the contact number and residence of the family.

Cleft lip and palate is commonly seen congenital facial deformity. Asia’s population has the highest ratio of cleft lip and palate, and in China, one of every 600 newborns is afflicted, according to earlier reports.

The surgery to repair this disfigurement is a small but advanced procedure. However, many children are denied it due to poverty and the prevailing medical conditions in the areas where they were born.

The medical costs can be a heavy burden on poor families. A single cleft-repair operation costs between 4,000 yuan (US$640) and 8,000 yuan, and most children require more than one operation, according to medical experts.

Apart from HKU-SZH, some other medical institutions in Shenzhen initiated offers for free surgeries for children with cleft lip and palate more than a decade ago.

For instance, Shenzhen Children’s Hospital officially became a cooperative medical unit of Smile Train, the world’s largest charity committed to providing free corrective surgery for people with cleft lip and palate, in August 2010, and launched a welfare program in the city in October the same year.

The operation cost is subsidized by the Smile Train Fund, which earmarks 3,200 yuan for each patient on average, and the remaining balance is subsidized by the children’s hospital to support the charity.

In 2005, Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital launched a charity program, joining hands with Guangdong Charity Federation and American toy manufacturing company Mattel, Inc.

The program provides free repair of cleft lip and palate and related operations, as well as one year of speech training, for 30 children from financially strapped families every year.