Surgeon Gurpratap Singh, former professor and head of department, Plastic Surgery, Government Medical College, Patiala, who has already operated upon 2,000 such cases, rendered his expertise free of cost to bring back the smiles on the faces of such underprivileged children. Over 100 such surgeries have been conducted so far in the hospital.

According to him, to see these children smiling is a rewarding experience by itself. Singh said this anomaly occurs due to congenital as well as nutritional defects during pregnancy. It is prevalent among underprivileged section of the society.

Lack of awareness regarding this disease leads to delayed treatment, causing various problems in the child such as late development of speech, malnutrition, repeated chest infections and even mental retardation. A large number of women patients have undergone surgery after they failed to get suitable matrimonial alliance because of the cleft lip.

He said that if operated at the proper time, these children can lead normal lives and avoid a lot of mental trauma. College principal A S Sekhon said every year, 35,000 children are born with clefts, a gap between the upper lip and or palate. Though completely treatable, less than half get the treatment they desperately need owing to financial difficulty.

The irony, he said, was that a cleft lip can be completely corrected with a simple surgical procedure that could take as little as 45 minutes and cost as little as Rs 8,000. He said the hospital also provided free speech therapy and other rehabilitative services to these children.