APPROXIMATELY 450 beneficiaries have had their smiles successfully restored after they received free cleft lip or palate surgeries, facilitated by Operation of Hope, a project under way at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
In an interview with Southern Eye, Mpilo spokesperson Memory Moyo said 446 individuals benefited from free surgeries since they began in 2016.
The surgeries were only disturbed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Bear in mind that from the period of 2020 to 2021 they did not operate on any patients because there was COVID-19 so they could not travel,” Moyo said.
She said the volunteers sometimes came only for a week depending on the number of patients who would have come forward for the life-changing operations.
“Note again that they do not only focus on children cleft palate surgeries, but they also look at adults with lumps and other diseases,” she said.
In May this year, Operation of Hope and bottling company Schweppes Holdings Africa Limited said they were offering free corrective cleft lip surgeries to patients from across Zimbabwe at Mpilo.
The surgeries will specifically cater for those with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facially-related operations.
The Operation of Hope is a combination of Canadian and American doctors.
Speaking at the handover ceremony of Mpilo’s refurbished ward B3, Schweppes Holdings corporate affairs executive Ropafadzo Gwanetsa hailed the company’s association with Operation of Hope.
Schweppes Holdings also made a donation to Mpilo, which included a complete revamp of ward B3, along with mattresses, bedding and curtains.
The medical tests started on Saturday morning, with the first operation taking place on Sunday this week.