33 children undergo plastic surgery in Kaberamaido

Doctors perform an operation on a baby, looking on is Kaberamaido County MP Veronica Isala Eragu. Photo by Joseph Onyango

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Dr. Ekwan said they continue to appeal for greater support from developmental partners to invest in surgical correction and special care for children diagnosed with cleft palate, citing that quite often the parents of these children feel a lot of mental dejection and stigma that make them either abandoned and fail to care of these children in their families

KABERAMAIDO.
At least 33 children with craniofacial abnormities, including cleft lip and palate, have undergone plastic surgery in Kaberamaido hospital.

The three-day surgical exercise started on Monday is being done by doctors from Mbarara University teaching hospital, Mulago National Referral Hospital and Makerere University with of the ministry of Health in collaboration with Smile Train Africa, which largely funded the surgical programme.

Statistic show that craniofacial abnormalities, especially cleft lip and palate, are the most common childhood birth defects in Uganda and families often associate them witchcraft.

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“So far each of the surgical outreaches across the regions have registered an average of 20 children with cleft lips and palate,” Dr. Ekwan said. He said the highest number was documented in Lira regional referral hospital in 2013 where a total of 38,000 children were registered for corrective surgeries.

Dr. Ekwan said they continue to appeal for greater support from developmental partners to invest in surgical correction and special care for children diagnosed with cleft palate, citing that quite often the parents of these children feel a lot of mental dejection and stigma that make them either abandoned and fail to care of these children in their families.

“When we arrived here in Kaberamaido, we heard all sorts of names given to these mothers of children with clefts that they have delivered cursed children and born out of witchcraft,” Dr. Ekwan told Daily Monitor in an interview at Kaberamaido hospital theatre.
However, Dr. Ekwan cited two causes of clefts that include; hereditary factors and lack of nutritional material, which leads to incomplete formation of body parts in children before birth.

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old man, Dan Wampande in the company of his wife Ms. Grace Hamuna, 37, of Majengo B in Kaberamaido town council, stormed Kaberamaido hospital seeking medical attention from surgical doctors.