Craniofacial Unit Creation In LAUTECH Is Advocated By Foundation

Dr. Seidu Bello, the executive director of the Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation, is calling for the establishment of a craniofacial unit in the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital for a more accessible and less expensive maxillofacial service.

Dr. Bello, who made this call during the opening ceremony of the ‘team 25’ free cleft and facial deformity surgery programme, at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Oyo State, had urged the hospital management to consider engaging a surgeon while also appealing to well spirited individuals to assist the foundation with N5million in order to purchase basic instruments to start the unit.

He then urged for the Oyo State government and the LAUTECH management to expedite action on the establishment of the School of Dentistry at the university so as to provide the manpower in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery for the realisation of the ‘team 25’ festival.

Read Also: Cleft Lip, Palate: Organisation Funds Repairs For Children’s Day

According to Dr. Bello, the present 25th edition of the programme had witnessed a massive turnout of patients who have different kinds of facial deformities.

“As at today, 44 patients have registered. We have operated on 13 while surgery continues for one week with a target of 50 patients. It is obvious that we cannot attend to everybody which is a wakeup call to the reality that facial deformities are not rare. From the statistics, 20 (45%) of the patients are from Ogbomoso while 32 (72%) are from Oyo state.”

Dr. Bello stated that it was absolutely unacceptable for Nigerians to go about with glaring psychological disturbances due to facial deformities in our society while the rest of us look elsewhere. He then added that facial deformity is not a disease that is only exclusive to the poor but the care of it required funds as well as the technical know-how.

“If professionals like us can come together to carry out free surgeries, it is important that healthy individuals support us with funds so as to continue this good work as the era of depending on foreigners for funding is gradually coming to an end. We must rise up and do something. On our own part, we have resolved to continue this project. We challenge all professionals in other specialties to rise up to the occasion.”