Vedanta Hospitals Joined By US NGO for Free Cleft Lip Surgery

A US-based NGO has partnered with Vedanta Hospitals to carry out cleft lip and palate surgeries. Vedanta Hospitals is a multi-specialty healthcare facility set up in Odisha by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.

Vedanta Hospitals at Lanjigarh in the state's Kalahandi district started these surgeries free of cost a year ago, VAL president Mukesh Kumar told IANS.

"The partnership with Smile Train, a US-based international charity, will leave no stone unturned to treat such cases in the state's Kalahandi-Bolangir, Rayagada and Koraput region," he said.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby's lip or mouth do not form properly.

In India, over 35,000 children are born every year with clefts and over 50 per cent of them remain untreated for lack of awareness.

Smile Train conducts free cleft lip and palate surgeries worldwide and has completed more than 80,000 such surgeries. Vedanta Hospital is the only Smile Train Centre in western Odisha, Kumar said.

Source: IANS