CAIRO: Operation Smile Egypt completed its third medial mission to Egypt from Nov. 8-16, providing 326 free medical evaluations and reconstructive surgery to 92 children and young adults suffering from facial deformities. More than 50 volunteer team members, including plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pediatricians, dentists, speech pathologists and others, cared for children who suffer from cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. Timothy Quinn, Egypt country manager, said "The operations our highly qualified volunteers provide allow these children to live normal lives - to have an equal opportunity to go to school, have a job, and get married. "Too often, people with cleft lips and palates are looked over simply because their speech or appearance is different. It is quite amazing the power that these surgeries have on everyone involved - doctors, nurses, patients and their families. The surgery truly changes the life of the child. There have been cases of students not recognizing their classmates because the surgery gave the child a brand new smile. Operation Smile Egypt was established as an Egyptian NGO in 2005. "As a young foundation, we hope to grow significantly over the next several years in cases treated, post operative care provided, and in the number of Egyptian volunteers, he said. Next year, the Egypt branch is planning four missions in the Delta, Red Sea and Cairo, in addition to continuing their work in Upper Egypt. "In 2007, we treated over 150 people. By 2010, we plan on treating over 1,000 - 1,500 children a year with an eventual capacity to comprehensively treat 3,500 children per year, added Quinn. "There are 2,000 children born with a cleft lip or palate in Egypt each year, and we estimate there are about 40,000 children and young adults in Egypt alone who have an untreated cleft lip and palate. The average age of a person we treat in Egypt is almost 13- 14 years old. Volunteers from Australia, Egypt, England, Italy, Jordan, Paraguay, and the United States worked with a local medical team in Qena. Free public medical evaluations were conducted for patients on Nov. 8 and 9 at the Qena General Hospital, followed by one week of surgery at the Qena One Day Surgery Hospital. All medical evaluations and surgeries were provided at no cost to the families and patients. This mission was Operation Smile's third medical mission to Egypt, and was held in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the Governate of Qena under the patronage of Governor of Qena Magdi Ayoub. This mission is part of Operation Smile's World Journey of Smiles (WJOS). WJOS missions took place in 44 sites in 25 countries around the world simultaneously. Over 1,500 volunteers provided surgeries and smiles for 4,149 children. Operation Smile is a private, not-for-profit, volunteer medical services organization providing free reconstructive facial surgery and related healthcare to children. Medical volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. Operation Smile has traveled to 30 developing countries over the last 25 years, partnering with local physicians and institutions. To complete its mission in Egypt, Operation Smile partnered with the Qena governor, the Qena Health Directorate, the Qena General and Specialized Hospitals and their staffs, Procter and Gamble, Orascom Telecom, Mobinil, Coca Cola, Abercrombie and Kent Egypt and Caritas Luxor. Other partners included Ansar El Sunna Society of Qena, the Youth Society for Development and Community and the Ru'a Association of Qena.
