BSF puts smiles back on faces of poor people

To put smiles back on the faces of poor people born with cleft lips, 13 people were successfully operated upon by doctors at a special medical camp organised by the BSF and international NGO 'Smile Train' based in the US.

"At a two-day medical camp, 13 people, including seven children, with cleft lips and palates were successfully operated upon by doctors," Border Security Force (BSF) Deputy Inspector General Bhaskar Rawat told IANS Tuesday.

"In similar medical camps organised earlier at the BSF's Composite Hospital at the Tripura frontier headquarters at Salbagan (near Agartala), 24 such cases were surgically rectified free of cost by a medical team from Kolkata," Rawat said.

"It gave the children and aged people a new lease of life and a smile on their faces. They are now leading a normal life," he added.

With the financial aid from the US-based international non-governmental organisation (NGO) 'Smile Train', the Rotary Club of Kolkata is chipping in coordination of efforts from various agencies to give relief to the afflicted children and people.

The BSF officer said similar camps have been organised in the areas of West Bengal and Meghalaya that border Bangladesh.

The BSF official said: "After the operation, the personality and the face of the person changes totally. The BSF and its associating organisations are taking suitable pre-operative and post-operative steps for the benefit of the patients."

The surgeries would cost up to Rs.50,000 each in the normal course, but are conducted free at the camps, which are also supported by the BSF Wives Welfare Association (BWWA).

"One out of 700 children is born with cleft lips and palates. This is a genetic problem," Rotary Club of Kolkata representative Chandra Mukherjee said, quoting the experts.

Experts say about 30,000 children in India are born with cleft lips and palates every year, and less than 50 percent of them go for a treatment.