30,000 Indians are born with cleft lip: Dr Jyotsana

Chennai, Nov 26 (UNI) About 30,000 children in India are born with cleft lip every year and only less than 50 per cent of them seek treatment, eminent Plastic surgeon and Director Cleft and Craniofacial Centre at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Jyotsna Murthy said.

Addressing media here in connection with a symposium to be organised in the institute on November 27 and 28, she said due to lack of awareness and economic backwardness, more than 50 per cent of the children born with the abnormality do not come for treatment.

Citing a study, she said one child in every 700 was born with cleft lip or palate which meant, ''for every hour, approximately three children with cleft lip and or palate are born in India.'' The exact cause for the abnormality was still not known, she added.

The two-day symposium, to be attended by more than 150 delegates, including Barry Grayson, Pradip Shetye and Arun Gosain from the US, would discuss and resolve various scientific and social issues, relating to these anomalies, she said.

Dr Jyotsna said many recent advances and new techniques like distraction osteogenesis had come for improved treatment in difficult cases. The distraction osteogenesis technique was very useful in corecting small and deformed facial bone, she added.

She said the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre in Ramachandra Mediacal College had so far conducted 6,000 cleft and palate surgeries.

The centre had so far screened 15,000 children born with cleft lip.

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