Partners and Projects:
Asia: Dervan, India
Dervan, India
The B.K.L. Walawalkar Hospital in Dervan, India is actively involved in the treatment of patients with cleft lip and palate, holding screening camps at the hospital on a quarterly basis and surgical camps every 2 months. Before the partnership with Transforming Faces Worldwide began, 50 individuals with cleft lip/palate had received successful repair surgery at Walawalkar Hospital. As neighboring communities have begun to see the positive operative results, the belief that a cleft lip or palate is an incurable condition is slowly disappearing.
In March 2002, a three-year partnership between Transforming Faces Worldwide and the B.K.L. Walawalkar Hospital was initiated in response to the growing demand and the proven capacity of Walawalkar Hospital to provide complete cleft lip/palate treatment.
Initially the outreach was only to the Chiplum Taluka, but now the project has expanded into other talukas in the Ratnagiri District. The Walawalkar Hospital has been designated by the Government of Maharashtra State to do a massive district wide cancer survey and treatment program. This opportunity will be used to advertise the Walawalkar Hospital cleft program to a much wider community.
Project Objectives
1. Identify, treat and rehabilitate patients with cleft lips and palates
2. Increase community awareness of the true causes and possible treatments for cleft lip and palate
3. Conduct research with respect to the causes of cleft lip and palate in the Konkan region
Progress to Date
Since the inception of the project in March 2002, 161 patients (83 female and 78 male) have been treated, receiving cleft surgery and rehabilitation including hearing assessments and treatment, speech assessments and therapy, dental and orthodontic work. Two-thirds of the patients are under five years of age and middle ear infection and perforated ear drums have been identified as a major problem. In some cases, patients are temporarily rejected for surgery for a variety of reasons, the most prevalent being, underweight due to malnutrition and gastrointestinal parasites.
Those patients who are underweight received a nutritional assessment and counseling at the hospital and continued to be monitored by village health workers until they reached an acceptable weight and fitness for surgery. When patients come for their initial consultation, both parents receive all the necessary information related to their child’s cleft lip/palate condition.
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