GOTHENBURG, Sweden — The Cebu Comprehensive Cleft Care Center of Excellence is now officially inaugurated. This milestone is a result of the longstanding partnership between Mölnlycke and Operation Smile – a global non-profit charity organization. The center will bring comprehensive care to people born with a cleft lip or palate (CLP) in the region and is expected to serve 10,000 patients in the first three years of its operations.
The incidence of babies born with cleft lip and cleft palate is higher in Southeast Asia than in other regions globally. The new clinic will offer life-changing surgeries and comprehensive cleft care to patients in the region where access to healthcare services is difficult.
“The support from Mölnlycke in establishing the center is grounded in our commitment to ensure equitable access to healthcare for all and the vision we have for achieving sustainable healthcare. A part of this vision is making the center self-sufficient, and that includes raising the level of knowledge of the local healthcare professionals in the areas where Mölnlycke can offer expertise”, comments Eric de Kesel, COO & EVP Sustainability, Mölnlycke. “Cleft patients continue to be stigmatized and we are delighted to be able to contribute to changing their lives and fully including them in society,” he adds.
“This clinic is a milestone for us, but also for cleft care globally, as it is also a training hub. In a rather lengthy construction project, our partner Mölnlycke has supported us financially while, in parallel with the construction, we have jointly created and rolled out a training program with innovative methods and solutions,” says Emiliano Romano, executive director of Operation Smile Philippines. “Together with some of our volunteers, clinical specialists from Mölnlycke are training the local healthcare professionals in areas such as infection prevention.”
The Cebu Comprehensive Cleft Care Center of Excellence is located at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) hospital, in the Philippines. It is a 2,000 m2 state-of-the-art facility providing an optimal environment for delivering comprehensive CLP services, including speech therapy, dental and psychosocial care – in addition to the areas supporting the surgical flow, in alignment with the vision of surgical care that Mölnlycke and Operation Smile share. It is also fully manned by the local healthcare workers.
