Hare-lip & Cleft Palate Campaign

Another serious problem associated with the defoliation programme was the increase in the number of children born with hare-lip and cleft palate. On August 3rd 1996 an article appeared in a Thanh Hoa local newspaper and some of the sentences are as follows: “According to statistics of the Commission for Children and Teenagers, our province has more than 1000 children suffering from hare-lip and cleft palate and as they grow up these children, especially the girls, become more and more worried about their appearance. Because of severe shortages of facilities and money the number of children having plastic repair operations has been very limited, only 20 or 30 patients a year. The aspirations of the parents of these children, for the repair of their sons or daughters faces have become more and more intense. --- but at the end of 1994 a new opportunity came to the Plastic Surgery Department when a delegation from the MSAVLC from the UK visited the hospital. Acknowledging the huge number of children having deformity of the lips in the province, Dr Madeleine Sharp returned to the UK and some months later the Hospital was informed about the decision of MSAVLC to assist the Hospital with £10,000 to carry out operations free of charge for the children. From now until the end of the year the Hospital expects the smiles will return to another 700-800 children.”

This explains why, later in the month, when Madeleine Sharp paid another visit to Thanh Hoa Hospital she was mobbed by hundreds of children and their parents who all wanted to express their thanks to MSAVLC. She was informed by Professor Trinh duc Hung that the success of the campaign had led to another 400 children from the remote areas of the Province begging for treatment and that this would require a further £2000. This was quickly donated and as the months went by more and more children were treated, so further sums of money were sent. By the middle of 1999 a total of £15,000 had been sent. More money was sent in 2000 and again in 2001, but since then no further requests have been made.