The county government of Nandi will continue partnering with several non-governmental organizations in a bid to coordinate and accommodate cleft lip and cleft palates surgery campaigns across the county.
This is according to the Nandi executive committee member of health Hon Ruth Koech who revealed that the county government of Nandi through the department of health and sanitation will work together with this non governmental organizations to improve and boost the health sector by saving more lives and putting a smile on patients with cleft lips challenges.
Koech cited that so far the county government of Nandi in partnership with Belarisu has managed to organize and coordinate free cleft lips corrective surgeries in Nandi four consecutive times, the aim being to sensitize the residents on the importance of correcting such deformities in children.
She revealed that children with such problems(cleft lips/palates) suffer rejection from their family members due to the perception that the deformities is as a result of curses and misfortunes.
The CEC said majority of the kids living with the problem suffer from malnutrition because they are not able to feed properly due to the deformity of the mouth opening.
“Children with such challenges suffer much due to lack of suction pressure which enables human beings to swallow food when eating.” She noted.
Koech affirmed that she has been working in partnership with varous stakeholders and non governmental organizations that conducts corrective surgeries for cleft lips/palates to visit the region and offer smiles to children through free surgeries which have enabled over four hundred children from across the country to regain their smiles again after successful surgeries.
The exercise was conducted at Nandi Hills sub-county hospital and the Kapsabet county referral hospital, where patients from all over Kenya with the cleft lip challenges came to seek for these free corrective surgeries.
She has urged the residents of Nandi and from across the country to utilize the opportunity whenever on offer as it is conducted free of charge by bringing in their patients to be taken care of.