• Cleft lip and cleft palate are the most common birth defect in Kenya.
• The government had suspended all non-emergency surgeries to reduce the risk of clients being exposed to the coronavirus
Image: FILE
Hundreds of patients with cleft lips and palates will now receive life-changing operations after the government allowed hospitals to resume surgeries.
Some 2,500 patients, some already operated on, could not receive care since the Covid-19 restrictions were imposed in March, the main provider of such surgeries in Kenya said on Wednesday.
The ministry of health suspended all operations on March 25, but acting director general Patrick Amoth lifted the suspension on May 29.
Global cleft charity Smile Train said its surgeries in Kenya will now resume, as per the ministry's directive.
"Over the last two months, there have been approximately 2,500 patients who were not able to receive treatment," said Dr Esther Njoroge-Muriithi, Smile Train Africa vice president and regional director.
The organisation partners with local hospitals, where the surgeries take place.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are the most common birth defect in Kenya. It occurs once in every 1,300 births when certain body structures around the mouth do not fuse together during fetal development.
They can involve the lip, or the roof of the mouth, which is made up of both the hard and soft palate. Causes of a cleft remain unknown but risk factors include environmental factors, lack of proper nutrition before and during pregnancy, as well as genetics.
Dr Njoroge-Muriithi said the organisation still provided comprehensive cleft care including nutrition, speech therapy and psychological support to many patients when surgeries were cancelled.
"Where [Covid-19] testing is available, Smile Train is supporting our local partners with grants that will aid the testing of patients before they undergo surgery," she added.
The organisation's medical advisory council member Prof Adetokunbo Adebola advised partner hospitals to follow in-country guidelines while resuming cleft care.
"The resumption of surgeries is a welcome relief even for our surgical teams but must be implemented systematically with the guidance and support of the Government. The threat posed by the virus is real," he said.
"Some countries are still grappling with rampant infections that are overwhelming their healthcare workforce."
The government had suspended all non-emergency surgeries to reduce the risk of clients being exposed to the coronavirus and to direct all resources toward the intensive management of Covid-19 patients.
By mid-May, at least 13,000 elective surgeries had been cancelled in Kenya, and the backlog was expected to grow to 21,000 by end of this month.
But Amoth says the disease has now been contained.
"The measures and interventions taken to contain the pandemic have hitherto been successful and have slowed down the transmission of Sars-Cov-2 in the community," he says in the memo.
Elective surgeries are scheduled in advance because they do not involve a medical emergency.
However, patients' conditions sometimes deteriorate as they wait. Some die.
(edited by o. owino)