The Mission Smile and Muthoot Pappachan Foundation have partnered with Techno India Dama Hospital, a premier healthcare facility in Kolkata, to organize a comprehensive Cleft Surgical Camp that will offer free cleft surgeries to West Bengal children and young adults from deserving backgrounds. The four-day mission will take place at Techno India Dama Hospital in Kolkata from August 4 through August 7, 2023.

The Muthoot Pappachan Foundation’s Pan India Initiative, SMILE PLEASE, aims to offer children and young people from deserving homes free, secure, compassionate, and thorough cleft surgery. The Initiative, which was launched in 2014 from Kerala in collaboration with Mission Smile, has reached 12 states and, so far, has completed 2644 successful surgeries nationwide. Through this scheme, 366 children and teenagers from West Bengal have already had surgery over the course of the last six missions in Kolkata. As part of this agreement, this mission will be the first at Techno India Dama Hospital and the seventh overall in Kolkata.

The announcement of this initiative was made by Prof. Manoshi Roychowdhury, Co-Chairperson, of Techno India Group, Mr. Conrad G Dennis, CEO, of Mission Smile, Dr. Manish Mukul Ghosh, Plastic Surgeon and field Medical Director of the Camp, Mr. Anand Kumar Bhagat- Area Manager, West Bengal, Muthoot FinCorp Ltd. and Dr Sourav Ghosh, Medical Director, Techno India Dama Hospital.

From a variety of West Bengal districts, including Murshidabad, West and East Midnipur, South 24 Paraganas, North 24 Paraganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Malda, and Krishnanagar, a total of 50 beneficiaries have been found. After the screening, the surgeries will be performed by a highly qualified team of medical professionals from different specialties, including Plastic Surgery, Oral and maxillofacial Surgery, Anaesthesiology, Paediatrics, Dentistry, Speech-Language Pathology, and Nursing, who have gathered from various locations in India and abroad.

By working with, Techno India Dama Hospital, Mission Smile, and the Muthoot Pappachan Foundation, they hope to make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people in West Bengal and give them the hope and confidence to embrace the future.

Priyanka Dutta