Operation Smile UK

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Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided free reconstructive surgery to more than 150,000 children and young adults in the developing world, who suffer from facial deformities such as cleft lip and palates. Working with a team of world-class healthcare professionals who volunteer their, Operation Smile has changed the lives of thousands of patients and their families, working in over 50 countries across the globe. It can take just a 45 minute operation, costing as little as £150, to give a child a new smile and a fresh start in life.

Clefts are the 3rd most common birth defect worldwide and it is estimated that every 3 minutes a child is born with a cleft.  In the UK, a baby with a cleft will have it repaired in the first year of it’s life.  However, in the developing world 1 in 10 children born with a cleft die before their first birthday and for those who survive, 75% of all cases will go untreated, many of which will live a lifetime of shame and isolation. Clefts hamper breathing, eating, drinking and speaking and many children do not go to school because they are ridiculed and teased, far reducing their opportunities and development for the future. However, in just 45 minutes and for as little as £150, Operation Smile can change a child’s life, forever.