2024-03-05
Montería, Colombia - Between February 28th and March 2nd, Operation Smile Colombia teamed up with Mindray to carry out a charity surgical program at the Integral Medicine University Clinic (CUMI) in Montería, Colombia. The initiative aimed to provide assessment and surgeries to children and young people with cleft lip and/or palate conditions from the department of Córdoba.
During the program, around 70 patients received assessment, with approximately 40 of them undergoing surgery. A team of over 40 specialists and volunteers from Operation Smile Colombia, including experts in plastic surgery, anesthesiology, nursing, psychology, biomedical engineering, and speech therapy, provided care to the patients.
Mindray made a donation of medical devices valued at approximately USD $117,000 to Operation Smile. The donation included high-acuity patient monitors, an anesthesia system, a hydraulic operating table, an integrated 4-in-1 defibrillator, and other cutting-edge devices. This donation will help establish a new operating room dedicated to cleft surgeries.
According to Operation Smile Colombia, cleft lip and/or palate is a craniofacial malformation characterized by a discontinuity between the tissues of the lip, hard palate, and soft palate. It occurs when the facial structures of a fetus have not fully closed. Cleft lip and palate have been corrected through a series of surgeries that have restored proper function and have required multidisciplinary treatment to improve speech and ensure adequate nutrition for better development.
In 2024, Operation Smile will celebrate 30 years of work in Colombia, benefiting over 1,200 children and young people annually. Mindray's donation is expected to directly and indirectly support more than 23,000 individuals in the country over the next 10 years.