Ashraya Hastha Trust a Bangalore based charitable organization have announced a five-year partnership with an aim to boost the cleft care ecosystem in India. The partnership will focus on supporting cleft treatment in the seven identified states include Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir, while also strengthening safety and best practices in cleft care.
In India, an estimated 35,000 babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate every year, and hundreds of thousands of children with untreated clefts live in isolation and face difficulties with eating, breathing, hearing and speaking. Ashraya Hastha Trust will support 10,000 cleft surgeries, five capacity building trainings and safety medical equipment at Smile Train treatment centers. All cleft surgeries at the Smile Train Cleft Program at KGMT Multispeciality Hospital, Guwahati, will be supported under this partnership for the next five years.
Speaking about the partnership, Dr. Seema Rekha Devi, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, KGMT Multispeciality Hospital, Guwahati said, “We are truly grateful that Ashraya Hastha Trust has extended support to this worthy cause and support for surgery, training and medical equipment will enable us to provide safe cleft treatment to thousands of children in need.”
