Figures On Cleft lip and palate

In completing surgery on children with malformation and burns and receiving aid, Emergenza Sorrisi helps them to:

• Every three minutes a child with a labio-palatoplasty is born. This malformation is commonly called "cleft lip"; this condition appears at birth and causes difficulty in feeding, speaking and even breathing.
• In developing countries this condition is very common, much higher than in European countries and the average in Italy. According to estimates, in some developing countries one child out of 300 is born with a facial malformation - ie. 170,000 children - unfortunately the scarce specialised medical structures, financial situation of parents, and lack of information make this condition difficult to treat, and consequently the families are emarginalised.
• Children born with this pathology in developing countries are twice as likely to die during their first year of life, and their quality of life is significantly decreased. These children find it difficult to breath, eat and speak; it is therefore a highly invalidating disease, and good surgery can indeed change their lives.
• n some African cultures or developing countries the cleft lip is considered to be the mark of a curse. The child's family is considered cursed somehow, and the malformation is often taken as a heavenly punishment. Children are excluded from social relations, abandoned or obliged to hide, they live their life with a sense of shame and guilt for what they are or for the malformation itself. Just because of this concept people believe that the only way to heal is to trust traditions or perform religious rites, for example Woodoo in Benin.