CHILDREN WITH CLEFT LIP AND PALATE IN UONG BI, VIETNAM

An educational program to improve surgical technique, nutrition, speech treatment and dental health

A collaborative project between

Rotary Malmö Öresund, Sweden, district 2390 and
the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö Sweden,
Rotary Triangeln, Malmö, Sweden,
Rotary Langelinie, Copenhagen, Denmark and
Rotary Aberystwyth, Wales, United Kingdom Rotary Saigon, Saigon, Vietnam

Rotary’s seven focus areas

The project involves three of Rotary’s seven focus areas. Those three are Disease prevention and treatment, Maternal and child health and Education.

Why do children in Vietnam with cleft lip and palate need help with surgery from abroad?

The poorest families in northern Vietnam lack insurances and money that prevents their children from having surgery.

In Vietnam, children with cleft lip and palate are not accepted by society and therefore often hidden away. Their mothers are accused of having caused the cleft lip and palate due to not living according to traditions during pregnancy.

Without treatment the children often suffer from problems eating. A consequence from this is that their nutrient intake is insufficient, and they are more easily affected by diseases. They are also hurt mentally since they are not accepted as intellectually normal developed.

By treating the children with surgery and educate their families in nutrient and facts about cleft lip and palate, both the children and their mothers can be accepted by society and already during the treatment improve the situation for the child.

Results

Lip surgery when he was 1 year and 8 months.

Palate surgery when he was 2 years and 8 months.

He is now 12 years and is waiting for bone transplantation.
In the left photo below, you can see the cleft in the jaw.

Learn More

Why do children get cleft lip and palate?

Every year, about 3,000 babies are born with cleft lip and palate in Vietnam. The condition occurs when the mouth and jaw do not develop in the normal way during fetal life. Cleft may be due to malformations in gestational week 6-9, mutations, syndromes or folic acid deficiency in the mother before conception.

In Vietnam, the child´s cleft lip and surgery is considered a cosmetic surgery

In Vietnam, the child´s cleft lip and surgery is considered a cosmetic surgery and then is not covered by free medical unless help from other countries. This means lifelong suffering, with speech, hearing and feeding difficulties. The families are often expelled from society, the children are considered developmentally disabled, are often hidden and have school difficulties. The mother is often blamed for not living as she should during pregnancy and superstition is common.

Often, multiple operations may be needed depending on how the cleft looks.

When the children are only a couple of years old, the soft parts are corrected by surgery.
Bone transplantation is performed in children at the cleft in the jaw around the age of 7-10 years and this technique is not mastered in Vietnam. There is no training of doctors in bone transplantation or in orthodontics.
For the children to have normal speech development, treatment by a speech therapist who is missing in northern Vietnam is required.
Since many years doctors at the hospital in Uong Bi with the help of the cleft teams from the Department of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic in Malmö, Skåne University Hospital, Sweden, have been trained to perform operations in children with cleft lip and palate. There is a need for continued training in more complicated surgical techniques such as surgery of the palate and jaw slit, in orthodontics and in bone transplantation.

Education in surgical cleft lip and palate

The education of Vietnamese hospital staff consists of both theoretical and practical education. By performing surgery together with Swedish surgeons, the Vietnamese surgeons learn in a straightforward way.

Dr Bang from Vietnam and Dr Becker from Sweden are operating a child together.
An interpreter participates during the operation.

The cleft team in Vietnam in Uong Bi is a small team with few resources.

A child with a cleft lip and palate

The child has not been operated in the jaw which gives this result

The child has not been operated in the jaw which gives this result.

Bone transplantation to the cleft is needed

This photo shows the results after 3 operations

Including bone transplantation and orthodontics.

Nutrition problems are common

Malnutrition occurs in about 20% of Vietnamese children. Specific deficiencies such as blood (anemia), iron, zinc, folic acid, vitamin A, and vitamin D occurs in 60% in some of these nutrients. Energy deficiency causes poor growth. Education in nutrition of professionals and parents is urgent. Folic acid deficiency in the mother before conception can cause cleft lip and palate.

Dr Bang from Vietnam and Dr Becker from Sweden are operating a child together.
An interpreter participates during the operation.

The cleft team in Vietnam in Uong Bi is a small team with few resources.

How We Work

Our objectives

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas varius tortor nibh, sit amet tempor nibh finibus et. Aenean eu enim justo. Vestibulum aliquam hendrerit. molestie.

Background and Purpose

The Uong Bi Hospital, northeast of Hanoi, was built by SIDA (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) in 1980. Several Swedish aid workers have worked at this hospital since then.

That the team at the hospital in Uong Bi will develop and become independent of help from other countries.

That the surgeons at the hospital in Uong Bi should independently operate the children in all steps until the age of 8-10 years.

That they should also master bone transplantation and orthodontics.

To educate speech therapists in Hanoi who will then be active in the cleft team at the hospital in Uong Bi.

To increase knowledge about children’s nutritional deficiencies among hospital staff and parents.

To produce teaching materials in nutrition.

Hospital Staff together with the Swedish team in Uong Bi outside the hospital

If you want to give a gift to the project

Malmö-Öresund Rotaryklubb

Handelsbanken 6758 Malmö Limhamn Sweden

Bankgiro number 5131-1108

BIC/IBAN: HANDSESS SE76 6000 0000 0004 1256 5781

SWISH: 123 56 047 31

Donations

Optional donation

 

Operation per child                                                           3000 SEK

Education doctors, nurses, speech therapists              2000 SEK

Family support (journeys, food, etc.)                            500 SEK

 

Enter your name, e-mail, LKG and what  donation you want to give when you SWISH or when you pay with Bankgiro.

 

You will receive a gift certificate if you email Torkil Rönne at torkil@cuprus.se

Enter your name, e-mail address, LKG and what donation you have given.

If you want more information, contact one of the persons below!

Irene Axelsson

Irene Axelsson

Project manager

Board Member Rotary Malmö Öresund

Board Member International Committee Rotary Malmö Öresund

MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Mob+46(0)709570198,

E-mail: irene.e.axelsson@gmail.com

Eva Albihn

Eva Albihn

Past President Rotary Malmö Öresund

Board Member Rotary Malmö Öresund

Member of the Project Committee

Mob+46(0)702681150,

E-mail: albihn80@gmail.com

Torkil Rönne

Torkil Rönne

Assistant Rotary Coordinator

Rotary International District 2390, DG 2019-2020, Zone 18 Sweden/Denmark

ARC 2020-2022, Chair International Committee Rotary Malmö Öresund

Mob+46 (0)727272491,

E-mail: torkil@cuprus.se

Magnus Becker

Magnus Becker

Head of Malmö cleft team

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden,

MD, PhD, Associate Professor

Mob +46 (0)705409064

E-mail: magnus.becker@med.lu.se

Annika Uvemark

Annika Uvemark

Cleft coordinator at Malmö cleft team

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Mob +46(0)706392222

E-mail: uvemark_anderberg@hotmail.com