(VNF) - This October, nearly 300 children with cleft lips/ palates in Hanoi, Nghe An and HCM.City will be provided with free surgery, thank to the nonprofit organisation Operation Smile (OS).

Around 300 children with cleft lips and palates will receive free surgery under the Operation Smile’s programme next month. (source: Operation Smile Vietnam)

In October, 300 children are expected to be operated on by OS Vietnam and its partners in Hanoi, Nghe An province and Ho Chi Minh City for free.

From October 13-20, around 80-100 children will be examined and operated on at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, No. 40A Trang Thi street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi.

Another 80-100 child patients are expected to be offered free surgery at Vinh International Hospital, No. 99 Pham Dinh Toai street, Nghi Phu commune, Vinh city (Nghe An province) from October 16 to 20.

All surgeries will be performed free of charge and the patients will also be supported for part of the travel and accommodation costs during their stay. (illustrative photo: Dan Tri)

This will be the first E-Da supported programme in Vietnam as a sponsor and the hospital will send medical experts to the host country in order to directly perform charitable surgery on child patients.

To be eligible for an operation, patients with cleft lips must be at least six months old and weigh at least 8kg, while for children with cleft palates, they must be at least 18 months old and weigh 10-12kg.

All of the patients must not have any congenital diseases such as heart disease, epilepsy or neurological disease.

All surgeries will be performed free of charge and the patients will also be supported for part of the travel and accommodation costs during their stay.

Surgical registrations can be made through OS Vietnam’s hotline in Hanoi at 024.3936 5426 and HCMC at 028.2222 1008 during office hours or the hotline at 090 488 5555.

A cleft is an opening in the lip, the roof of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth. A cleft lip may be accompanied by an opening in the bones of the upper jaw and/or the upper gum.

A cleft palate occurs when the two sides of a palate do not join together, resulting in an opening in the roof of the mouth. A cleft lip and palate can occur on one side or both sides. A child can suffer from a cleft lip, a cleft palate or both.