Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Aspect Maunganidze is set to officially open the 7th Pan-African regional conference on cleft care this afternoon.
The Pan African Association of Cleft Lip and Palate (PAACLIP) is holding the conference to raise awareness, improve care, and advocate for support.
This year’s congress is running under the theme ‘Cleft Care in Africa: Reorganisation and Repositioning for Excellence.’
Representatives from various African countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Togo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroon, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Madagascar, Mali, and Senegal, are in attendance.
The purpose of this year’s conference is to improve cleft care in Africa by providing opportunities for practitioners to learn from each other, and advocate for support.
The first two conferences for cleft lip and palate were held in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 2006 and 2007.
During and after these conferences, centres that met the requirements for cleft repairs were offered treatment grants.
A cleft lip is an opening or split in the upper lip that occurs when developing facial structures in an unborn baby don’t close completely.
