An international charitable organization - Smile Train recently organized a live surgery demonstration at Sant Parmanand Hospital, New Delhi, where eminent plastic and maxillofacial surgeons from across India performed reparative surgeries on patients with cleft lip and palate. Surgeries to repair clefts are extremely sensitive and require the highest level of dexterity and technical expertise, as they are an important aspect of facial reconstruction.

The objective was to upskill India’s young surgeons and post-graduate students to improve the quality and safety of surgical outcomes. Cleft repair surgeries not only help in alleviating difficulties in eating and breathing, they also improve speech quality and help individuals born with clefts overcome challenges like social stigma and isolation.

The surgeons at the helm of this initiative focused on sharing best practices in reparative surgery. They also interacted with the young surgeons watching the webcast at Eros Hotel after performing the surgeries.

This is one of the many initiatives taken by Smile Train India towards capacity building of the medical fraternity in India to ensure quality and safe surgical care to cleft affected individuals.

The surgeons who lead this initiative included Dr. Larry Hollier - Chief of Plastic Surgery Service, Texas Children’s Hospital, USA; Dr. B. Krishnamurthy - Maxillofacial Surgeon, Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, Bangalore; Dr. Mukunda Reddy - Plastic Surgeon, Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Hyderabad; Dr. P.V. Narayanan -  Consultant Reconstructive Surgeons at Jubilee Mission Medical College & Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala’ Dr. S. C. Sood - Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery, Sant Parmanand Hospital, Delhi; Dr. Rajesh Powar - Professor & Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, K.L.E.S. Prabhakar Kore Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Belgaum & Dr. Karoon Agrawal - Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgeon, Safdarjung Hospital and VM Medical College, Delhi

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally.