A different life for kids with cleft lip, palate

MANILA, Philippines - By being different, children are allowed to be themselves and to enjoy life the way they see fit. By having facial abnormality like a cleft lip or palate, children are scarred for life.

Children and adults alike with facial deformities suffer inconsequential damage in their lives that many cannot possibly perceive.

For one, JS, 10, starts a fight when he is not understood because of his condition. His mother says he talks with difficulty because of his scar but he tries to adjust to the world. He is a playful child who wants to be understood but is hindered by his condition.

Twenty-six-year-old JD also expressed difficulty as an adult with a facial deformity. He left his previous job because of his condition. Fortunately, he found out about Operation Smile. He is now dreaming of a better job because of his improved condition.

JE, 4; AE, 5; and CM, 6, also experienced difficulty in relating with other children. Their parents are fearful of the future ahead of them because they are different.

Operation Smile and scar expert Dermatix have partnered to create a better future for children with cleft palates and lips.

Operation Smile was founded in Philippines 30 years ago and has since then done over 24,000 surgeries in the country alone.

It has given a better life not only to Filipino children but also to over 200,000 children and young adults from all over the world. In Operation Smile’s 30th anniversary, Dermatix joins it in healing their scars.

Dermatix is specifically formulated with the innovative CPX (cyclopentasiloxane) technology for better flattening and softening of scars, and vitamin C for photoprotection and skin lightening.

In the Philippines, one in every 500 babies born every year has a cleft lip, palate, or both. This means that around 4,004 Filipinos out of 2,064 million born every year have this deformity.

A report from the Philippine Birth Defect Registry — a partnership of the Department of Health and the US National Institute of Health’s Institute of Human Genetics — said cleft lip and palates are among the top 12 birth defects in the country.