Kwara, Rotary International bankroll cleft surgery for 100 children

The Kwara state government, in collaboration with the Rotary International club will bankroll cleft surgery for 100 children in the state.

Mike Omotosho Foundation and the Alliance for Smiles, based in the United States of America are also co-sponsors of the programme.

The surgery would commence on January 10, 2016 at the General Hospital, Ilorin.

A team of 17 volunteers comprising doctors, nurses and other paramedics will arrive Nigeria from USA, Canada and Australia on January 8 for the exercise.

A statement issued in Ilorin, Kwara state capital, by the Rotary International District Governor in Nigeria, Dr. Mike Omotosho, said the cleft lip and palate reformatory surgery would be performed by a team of surgeons from the United States of America, Australia and their Nigeria’s counterparts.

According to the statement, cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during pregnancy.

It called for the setting up of birth defects registry across the country, which the organisation believed would help in determining Nigeria’s birth defects prevalence.