Operation Smile South Africa (OSSA) is making the world a better place one smile at a time.
OSSA is a non-profit medical service organisation that provides free cleft lip and palate reconstructive surgery and has since 2006, seen its medical volunteers provide over 6 000 free surgeries to children and adults throughout Southern and Central Africa.
The organisation believes that access to safe, effective and timeous surgical care is a basic human right, and that the inability to obtain surgical treatment for cleft conditions impacts lifelong health and mortality rates among children in South Africa and beyond.
“Those living with cleft conditions often suffer negative and stigmatic societal treatment resulting in emotional, social and economic costs which inadvertently extend to their families and communities,” says Sean Robson of OSSA.
Mr Robson also says that OSSA have the ability to address this need directly by deploying missions across multiple sites in and around South Africa.
That is done by means of a referral programme, the organisation identifies and refers patients to one of the nine existing cleft centres nationwide.
The missions also supplement the national healthcare system by delivering much-needed care to the two provinces in South African that do not yet have established cleft centres.
“In 2019, OSSA together with the National Department of Health will be embarking on a pilot programme at Witbank Provincial Hospital to assist in expanding the facility’s surgical services and offering non-surgical education and training programmes that cover Basic Life Support (BLS), Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Helping Babies Breathe (HBB),” explains Lauren Bright, Country Manager for Operation Smile South Africa.
OSSA were able to complete 17 surgeries and screen 28 patients on February 2 and 3 at Witbank Hospital.
One can be involved with Operation Smile South Africa by donating, corporate partnership or being a volunteer.
Those requiring assistance with receiving reconstructive surgery to correct a cleft lip or palate, can visit the Operation Smile South Africa website, connect on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, call tollfree on 0800 0 76453, or WhatsApp on 060 855 7971.
