PHL’s pioneering cleft treatment hub launched

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

SMILE Train and Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation Philippines, Inc. (NCFPI) has launched the country’s first Cleft Leadership Center (CLC), strengthening their constant dedication to provide improved progressive treatment, especially for Filipinos in need of correcting this most common birth defect.

“Smile Train celebrates its 75,000 cleft surgery milestone this year and, as we recognize this significant accomplishment, we know there is still more work ahead of us. The launch of the CLC represents our commitment to continuously provide safe, high-quality, and timely care for the Philippine cleft community by building a stronger, comprehensive cleft care system,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, vice president for Southeast Asia at Smile Train.

The facility serves as a regional hub for cleft care and training, anchored on the global organization’s comprehensive approach and sustainable model for cleft treatment. Likewise, it bridges the gap between the Philippine cleft community and their access to quality cleft care.

High-Quality Cleft Care

MANNED by a local network of medical professionals, the CLC is a multidisciplinary hub that provides pro bono comprehensive cleft care from birth to adulthood. S mile Train beefed up its existing partnership with NCFPI, the leader for the standard of multidisciplinary cleft care in the country, to serve more Filipinos affected with cleft who would otherwise not be able to afford the needed treatment. The former provides the latter with the required resources to aid those in need. n Promote greater public and political awareness of the importance of liver disease prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Nevertheless, the alliance will face a herculean challenge as APAC has more than half of the global population and accounted for 62.6 percent of global deaths due to liver diseases in 2015. Of the total number, 54.3 percent of global deaths are due to cirrhosis, 72.7 percent of global deaths due to hepatocellular carcinoma, and more than two thirds of the global burden of acute viral hepatitis occurred in this region in 2015. The alliance lamented that the majority of the governments’ response has thus far been insufficient and quite short of funds.

To reverse the dire situation, Sarno said governments must have a renewed focus on prevention, early detection, timely referral, and research into the best means to introduce and improve health interventions to reduce the burden of liver diseases in the Asia-Pacific region.

“NCFPI is a long-time partner of Smile Train in bringing holistic cleft care to cleft-affected individuals in the Philippines. The CLC ensures that an individual’s treatment journey does not stop with cleft surgery but also requires other services necessary for them to live a full and healthier life,” said NCFPI President Dr. Bernard Tansipek.

The CLC’s comprehensive cleft care services necessary for holistic treatment and rehabilitation are now available in NCFPI’s two sites: the Smile Train Craniofacial Center in Joshua Center, which has orthodontic and speech therapy services; and at the Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Parañaque where surgeries, orthodontics and dental treatment, nutrition services, and counseling are conducted.

M ore than just a treatment facility, the CLC is also a training and educational hub for local medical practitioners. It boasts of skilled and experienced cleft teams and state-of-the-art technology that help build local medical capacity in treating various types of clefts. The launch of this pioneering hub signals a more optimal outcome for each surgery through continuous innovation and development of care.

F or more details, visit sm iletrain.org o r smletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines.

Overall, about one in eight students of the same age group (12.5 percent) are currently using various tobacco products. One in four (24.5 percent), meanwhile, have tried using e-cigarettes.

The GYTS also revealed how easy it is for the youth to buy tobacco products in the country, with about two in five students who currently smoke (37 percent) saying that it was easy for them to buy tobacco products regardless of their age.

“The GYTS offers compelling evidence that cigarettes and other tobacco products are widely accessible to minors even when a law restricts access to these products,” said r o meo Dongeto, Executive Director of the Philippine l e gislators’ Committee on Population and Development, the Convenor of Child r i ghts Network. “It is therefore, imperative, for government agencies to strictly implement the law to make sure that these harmful products cannot be accessed by children.”

Parents Against Vape, a nationwide organization of parents committed to protecting children and youth against the harms of vapes, agree.

“The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) must not – even for a day—waver on its commitment to monitoring the sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products that violate the restrictions on flavor descriptors and marketing strategies that directly cater to the youth and children. We laud DTI’s initial efforts on crackdown of illegal vape shops, but this should continue in the years to come,” said PAV president Imelda Esposado-Gocotano.

Address vape epidemic

I N a j oint statement, C r N a nd PAV said the vape epidemic among the children and the youth is “alarming” and urged the government education agencies to “take a more active role” in implementing the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products r e gulation Act or r A 1 1900 and strengthen the recent administrative order issued by the DTI.

“Although the DTI issued an administrative order to implement the law, we firmly believe that the education agencies are in a more strategic position to address the vape epidemic among our youth,” C r N C onvenor Dongeto said.

Nicotine is addictive

I N a n article authored by Michael Tan, a medical anthropologist, writer and academician, pointed out that vape liquid contains nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco.

“Vape manufacturers and other vape advocates say vaping helps nicotine addicts as they try to kick smoking. But it’s a crazy proposition for two reasons. First, there are other nicotine substitutes that are available and that have been approved by drug regulatory authorities. The substitutes come in ‘chewing gum’ format, as well as in skin patches. Second, the nicotine in vape products is addictive as well, and with young people as the target, the addictive potential is worst because young brains are quicker to get hooked on psychoactive substances,” Tan said in his article Turning the Nicotine Tide published last year.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse affirmed this as it said “most smokers use tobacco regularly because they are addicted to nicotine.” The u S Food and Drug Administration also noted that “tobacco products are addictive because they contain nicotine. Nicotine keeps people using tobacco products, even when they want to stop.”