A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate contains an opening into the nose. The term orofacial cleft refers to either condition or to both occurring together. These disorders can result in feeding problems, speech problems, hearing problems, and frequent ear infections. Less than half the time the condition is associated with other disorders.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the mouth, head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate surgery.
Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, training local doctors and providing hospital funding for the procedures.
Sir Michael Wood, was a British surgeon. He studied medicine, and in 1943 he qualified as a surgeon and soon after was married to Susan Buxton, daughter of African missionaries.
The Flying Doctors of East Africa is a 1969 documentary film by Werner Herzog about the "flying doctors" service of the African Medical and Research Foundation in Tanzania and Kenya. The film is a fairly conventional documentary made during the filming of Herzog's more stylized films Fata Morgana and Even Dwarfs Started Small.
Handicapped Future is a 1971 documentary film by Werner Herzog about physically disabled children in Munich.
CURE International, based in Grand Rapids, MI, is a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children's hospitals around the world. CURE provides medical care to pediatric patients with orthopedic, reconstructive plastic, and neurological conditions. The organization's stated mission is to "heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God." The organization currently operates hospitals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, the Philippines, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Farm Africa is a UK-based charitable organization set up in 1985 that works with farmers, pastoralists and forest communities in eastern Africa. The charity promotes sustainable agricultural practices, strengthens markets and protects the environment in rural Africa. Farm Africa has offices in the United Kingdom, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.
The Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland (CFSGBI), commonly known as the Craniofacial Society, is a professional organisation and charity dedicated to the study of cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial anomalies based at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London in the United Kingdom. The Society first convened in 1970 and continued to meet on an ad hoc basis, leading to its formal constitutional establishment in 1985. The Society has since grown in terms of membership and stature and has developed to become the leading professional organisation for cleft health care professionals in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Anne Spoerry was a French-born physician, based for most of her career in Kenya as a "flying doctor" affiliated with Amref Health Africa.
Alliance for Smiles (AfS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 in San Francisco. They provide free surgical repairs for cleft lip and cleft palate, with missions mostly in the continents of Asia and Africa. They also work to develop treatment centers where continuous follow-up care can be provided.
Zipporah Gathuya, is a Kenyan consultant anesthesiologist, whose sub-specialty is pediatric anesthesia. She served as the Principal Surgeon at St. John Ambulance Kenya, for the 21 years between 1996 and 2017.
Hirji Sorab Adenwalla was an Indian missionary who joined the Jubilee Mission in Kerala, India, as a surgeon. Adenwalla turned what was originally a small dispensary into a 1500-bedded medical college and research institute called the Jubilee Mission Medical College. Adenwalla specialized in cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, providing treatment at low or no cost to more than 21,000 patients. Adenwalla contributed several new techniques to the cleft lip surgery, such as a method to avoid a vermillion notch, a protocol for cleft lip nose correction in unilateral cleft lips, and a procedure for septal repositioning.
Leonore Semler was a German philanthropist and founder in 1963 of the German branch of the African Medical and Research Foundation. She headed the organization until 2009 and raised millions of euros on its behalf.
Susan Wood (1918-2006), British philanthropist and writer who helped create the African Medical Research Foundation (Amref) in Kenya and founded an enterprise to employ poor single mothers. She lived much of her life in Kenya.
Sr. Dr. Justina Geraldine Najjuka is a Ugandan religious sister, author and plastic surgeon. She was the first African Roman Catholic nun to become a surgeon in East and Central Africa.
Global Smile Foundation (GSF) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, U.S., that provides free comprehensive cleft care, including surgery and dental services, to children in low to middle-income countries. Additionally, the foundation offers education and training for healthcare providers specializing in cleft treatment.
Amrillo Inoyatov is an Uzbekistani plastic surgeon, former Minister at Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan National counterpart of the World Health Organization and former Deputy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on youth, science, education, healthcare, culture and sports. In 2024, he has been appointed as the Director of the Institute of Health and Strategic Development.
Daktari: A Surgeon’s Adventure’s with the Flying Doctors of East Africa is a non-fiction book by Dr. Thomas D. Rees. It details the author's exploits providing plastic surgery and other medical assistance to remote areas of Africa starting in 1957. Rees was one of three co-founders of Amref Health Africa, previously known as the Flying Doctors of East Africa, along with Sir Archibald McIndoe and Sir Michael Wood.
Thomas D. Rees was an American plastic surgeon who co-founded the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa in 1957, an organization that utilizes small aircraft to deliver medical care to remote areas in Africa.
