To improve the lives of young people and newborns who are socially and financially disadvantaged, Techno India DAMA Hospital, a top healthcare facility in Eastern India, partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Mission Smile to organize a 4-day cleft surgical camp.

Gracing the event were Mr. Conrad Dennis, CEO-Mission Smile, Dr. MS Purkait, Medical Superintendent, Techno India DAMA Hospital, Dr. Manish Ghosh, Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Techno India DAMA Hospital, and Mona Sarkar, CEO, of Techno India DAMA Hospital.

The camp took place between January 2 and January 5, 2025. It started with screening more than 100 patients. The screening process was followed by procedures, which were performed by a highly qualified group of medical professionals from different specialties who came together from all across India. Plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, anesthesiology, pediatrics, dentistry, and speech-language pathology were the main medical specialties being performed as part of this charitable initiative.

Since its establishment, Mission Smile has performed more than 70000 medical evaluations and 46500 free cleft operations throughout India. Over 8,000 patients in West Bengal received free surgery under Mission Smile last year, including 354 patients.

One of the noteworthy healthcare initiatives being carried out by Indian Oil Corporation’s CSR Wing is the Cleft Surgery Camp at Techno India DAMA Hospital. It is run by the Madhur Muskaan Project of IOCL, which has successfully provided corrective operations to infants born with cleft lip or plate abnormalities. The four-day camp at Techno India DAMA Hospital was a great fit with the care and positive transformation core values of IOCL.

The beneficiaries’ and their families’ lives were profoundly impacted by the four-day cleft surgery camp. The initiative demonstrated the commitment to closing the gap between the unmet medical needs of Kolkata’s financially disadvantaged cleft sufferers.

Priyanka Dutta