By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — About 60 patients with cleft lip and cleft palate defects stand to benefit from the three-day free surgery to be offered by a non-government organization (NGO) and the provincial government here later this month.
“There are now 36 Antiqueños with cleft palate and lip who have registered for the free operation,” Elsie Manzanilla of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office said Friday, about the surgery that will be held by Medical Mission Matters at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital (ASMGH) on November 21-23.
Manzanilla, who is also coordinator of the free operation, said the municipal presidents of the Persons with Disability (PWDs) chapters are helping identify individuals with such cases.
She said Medical Mission Matters had been conducting free operations once a year since 2013.
“In 2017 and this year, the NGO conducted the medical mission twice a year with a minimum of 50 patients per activity,” she said.
Manzanilla said the medical mission team consists of one anesthesiologist, two surgeons, and nurses. “Usually there are 15 persons in a medical team,” she said.
The NGO also provides free medicines and food, and even shoulders the patients’ travel expenses.
A laboratory examination will be conducted three days before the surgery.
Manzanilla said those who would like to avail of the free surgery may coordinate with the ASMGH or the Provincial Disability Affairs Office in San Jose de Buenavista.
