Kolkata, 18th June, 2024: Techno India Dama Hospital, a leading healthcare institution in Kolkata, in collaboration with Mission Smile and Muthoot Pappachan Foundation will conduct a comprehensive Cleft Surgical Camp, providing free cleft surgeries to kids from deserving backgrounds and young adults of West Bengal. The five-day mission will take place between June 26th, 2024 to June 30th, 2024.
The announcement of this noble initiative was made in the presence of Prof. Manoshi Roychowdhury, Co-Chairperson, Techno India Group, Mr Jayanto Narayan Choudhury, former DGP Assam and DG-NSG and Co-Chairman of Mission Smile, Mr Bibil Jacob, Vice President of Muthoot Fincorp Limited, Eminent Plastic Surgeons of East India, Dr Anjana Malhotra (Principal Chief Medical Director of South Eastern Railway) and Dr Manish Mukul Ghosh, Mr Conrad Dennis, CEO-Mission Smile and Dr Sourav Ghosh, Medical Director, Techno India Dama Hospital.
Overall 46500+ free cleft surgeries have been conducted by Mission Smile and 70000+ medical evaluation across India since its inception. 354 patients received free surgeries through Mission Smile last year and overall 7000+ in West Bengal.
The cleft surgical camp will kickstart with the screening of about 100+ patients. Following the screening, the surgeries will be conducted by a highly skilled team of medical experts from various fields, including Plastic Surgery, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Anaesthesiology, Paediatrics, Dentistry, Speech Language Pathology and Nursing, coming together from different parts of India.
“We are extremely happy to host this transformative initiative in partnership with Mission Smile and Muthoot Pappachan Foundation. Our collective goal is to provide free cleft surgeries to those in need and empowering them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives”, said Prof. Manoshi Roychowdhury, Co-Chairperson, Techno India Group.
“More than 100 cleft procedures are anticipated to be performed during the four-day cleft surgical camp, having a significant influence on the beneficiaries’ and their families’ lives. The programme is a proof of the dedication of all stakeholders involved in bridging the gap between the unfulfilled medical needs of cleft patients of Kolkata”, said Dr Sourav Ghosh, Medical Director, Techno India Dama Hospital.
“We firmly believe in the power of transformative healthcare initiatives of which corrective surgery for cleft is extremely important. Through the association between Techno India Dama Hospital, Mission Smile and Funded and supported by Muthoot Pappachan Foundation we aim to create a positive impact in the lives of children and young adults in West Bengal, enabling them to embrace their future with confidence and hope”, said Mr Jayanto Narayan Choudhury, Co-Chairman of Mission Smile.
“Muthoot FInCorp branches in West Bengal, especially in North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, West and East Midnipur, Howrah, Hoogly, Nadia and East/West Bardhaman districts were keen in doing extensive outreach activities to reach out to the families of cleft patients, building confidence in them and bringing them to the hospital to avail surgeries to their kids. This is seen as one of the selfless and dedicated acts of the Muthoot staff members who normally are into financial services for which they reach out to the common man in their financial requirements and positively change the quality of their lives”, said Mr Bibil Jacob- Vice President, Muthoot FinCorp Ltd.
SMILE PLEASE, is the Pan India Initiative of Muthoot Pappachan Foundation to provide free, safe, compassionate and comprehensive cleft surgeries to kids and youngsters from deserving backgrounds. Started in 2014 from Kerala, in partnership with Mission Smile, the Initiative has touched 13 states and so far has accomplished 2882 successful surgeries across the country. So far 418 kids and youngsters from West Bengal received surgeries through this programme in the last 7 Smile Please Missions at Kolkata. This is going to be the 8th Smile Please Mission at Kolkata as part of this partnership and the second one at Techno India Dama Hospital.
About Techno India DAMA
Techno India DAMA Hospital is a 320-bed premier Super Speciality Tertiary Care Hospital in Kolkata that is a flagship project of Techno India Group. The Hospital offers an integrated range of healthcare services from outpatient treatment and diagnostics to advanced clinical care. To keep pace with the modern technological breakthroughs in medical science the hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities at par with global standards. From the simplest to the most complex medical problems, the hospital furnishes the most cutting-edge treatment. Techno India DAMA Hospital aims to evolve into a global player in the integrated healthcare service for the better administration of health of the
individual in general and the community in large. The Hospital specializes in Oncology, internal medicine, neurosurgery, paediatrics, cardiology, etc.
In India, thousands of children and young adults suffer from congenital disorders called cleft lip and cleft palate, which can impair speech, make it difficult to feed themselves, and cause social shame. Techno India Dama Hospital, in collaboration with Mission Smile and the Muthoot Pappachan Foundation, is committed to improving the lives of people with cleft issues.
About Mission Smile:
Mission Smile is a registered medical charitable trust dedicated to provide free life-changing surgeries to children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. Since 2002, we have provided complete medical evaluations to more than 70,000 cleft patients and have performed surgeries and cleft care free of cost to more than 46500 children and adults suffering from cleft-afflicted deformities, through 146 Missions, 16 Outreach Centers pan India and our dedicated Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre in Guwahati. Medical and non-medical volunteers from India and abroad are joining hands for the cause of clefts. Over 1800 such volunteers have joined the initiative so far.
About Muthoot Pappachan Foundation:
Muthoot Pappachan Foundation (MPF), the CSR arm of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, commonly known as BLUE MUTHOOT is supporting the entire mission as part of their Pan India project – Smile Please, so that cleft-affected children from deserving backgrounds could benefit from this programme. Apart from the financial supports, Muthoot has shaped this programme as one of their major employee engagement programmes wherein the branches of Muthoot FinCorp Ltd. and Muthoot Microfin Ltd. is engaged in extensive field outreach in recruiting patient from the remote villages and also creating awareness on the misconceptions on cleft.
For the planned camp, we have started to organize cleft awareness campaigns in the districts of West Bengal through Muthoot FinCorp Branches. Patients will get free transportation, food, accommodation, medical examination, surgery and medicines. After the surgery, patients will also be given free post-operative care as well. As part of this Comprehensive Cleft Surgery Mission, required patients will also have access to psychological counselling, speech therapy, and guidance etc. which also are totally free of cost. Malnourishment has become a big challenge, especially in the cleft care wherein Muthoot Pappachan Foundation has started a separate scheme to provide free Nutrition supplements to all the kids who are medically screened as malnourished. All of them will get free supplements for one full year.
Muthoot Pappachan Foundation is looking forward to help the children of West Bengal by providing free cleft surgeries every year in partnership with Mission Smile and Techno India DAMA Hospital.