LASUTH partners Rotary to bring succour to cleft lip palate patients

The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in partnership with Rotary International and Alliance for Smile, United States, has commenced surgery and speech therapy for persons with speaking challenge as a result of cleft lip palate deformity.

Briefing journalists at the commencement of the exercise in LASUTH, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. David Adewale Oke, said the partnership, which had been in the works for about four years, would bring a new lease of life to the patients judging from the successes achieved by the organization in previous years.

Oke noted that victims of cleft lip palate usually face the challenge of facial deformity, which often makes it difficult to breath properly. “It is a structural problem on the face, but beyond the face, persons with this challenge are usually stigmatized in society.

Meanwhile, the District 9110 Governor, Rotary International, Dr. Adewale Ogunbanjo, said collaboration with Alliance for Smiles for eight years in the country has restored health and physical correction to 74 patients who had been treated for the deformity.

He appealed to parents and guardians with persons suffering from the deformity, especially children, not to hide them at home, stating that early intervention is easier managed but correcting the deformity could be difficult if it stays for too long, especially if it kept to adulthood.