From Gyang Bere, Jos
The Public Relations and Communication Manager, Smile Train, Africa, Emily Manjeru has encouraged Nigerians to bring out children who are born with Cleft lip and palate conditions for corrective surgery.
She noted that Smile Train has performed successful surgeries on over 30,000 persons with Cleft lip and palate, that is babies with open lips.
Manjeru disclosed this on Monday during a two-day training workshop for Journalists, with a theme, “The Media as a veritable tool for the demystification of Cleft” held in Abuja.
She described the condition of the children as horrific and devastating but assured that there is hope for children and adults who are born with the condition.
Manjeru explained that a lot of children who are battling with cleft lips and palate are isolated in most communities in the country and encouraged the families to come out for free corrective surgery.
Founder and Publisher of Science Nigeria, Nkechi Isaac, who delivered a paper titled, “Doing a Cleft Lip and palate story for impact” encouraged Journalists to develop skills and interest in writing Cleft lip and palate stories to educate society on corrective measures.
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She explained that one out of 1000 children in the society are born with Cleft lip and palate and said those children have a right to life and mingle with everyone in the society without isolation.
She noted that the right information about children with cleft lip are needed to encourage and educate the parents to know that Smile Train offers free help to children born with the condition.
“Every story on Cleft lip and palate should be aimed at creating the necessary impact and educating the public to know that the condition is a health challenge that can be corrected through surgery and not a death sentence on the child.”
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche, described the training as critical in providing the necessary reporting skills for Journalists to report science stories for proactive measures.
He encouraged Smile Train to sustain the training programme and extend it to more journalists in the country for greater impact and required results.