Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
MORE than 50 children from vulnerable families have benefited from free cleft lip and palate surgeries being conducted at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital.
With cleft lip and palate surgeries ranging between two thousand and six thousand United States dollars at private hospitals, parents of children who benefited from the free cleft and palate surgeries at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital have expressed gratitude to the government and its partners for offering the services free of charge.
“I came all the way from Buhera after hearing about this camp and am grateful that am now going back home with my child after undergoing a successful cleft palate surgery,” said a parent.
“This is a very commendable initiative being conducted by the government and its partners because I did not have the money to take my child for treatment at private hospitals,” said another parent.
Another parent said, “Last time I was told that there is a long list of children who require the surgery so I was put on the list and when I sought treatment in private hospitals, they charged me US$ 3,000 which I could not afford but here I am, and I am very grateful.”
The free surgeries are being conducted by Celebration Health and Leap Global Missions in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“The idea behind this is that there are children who need these operations and we are providing them for free. When you go into a private hospital the cost of doing these operations is too high but we know that on average they say an estimated one in ten children are born with this condition. We know that the numbers keep piling up every year so we are here to offer these operations for free. The response was very overwhelming,” said Celebration Health Manager, Pastor Nkosi Kapswara.
Every year, the government and its partners assist children suffering from various ailments which range from hernia, and tonsillitis as well as cleft lip and palate through free surgery programmes.
