Karnataka approves cleft care mentorship programme in State-run hospitals

To enhance the capacity of State-run hospitals to perform cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, the government of Karnataka has approved a ‘Cleft care mentorship programme’.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most common congenital anomalies affecting children in Karnataka. Surgical correction is essential for the physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation of affected individuals. However, there exists a gap in the availability of adequately trained maxillofacial surgeons in government hospitals, particularly in rural and underserved regions.

At present, most of the cleft lip and cleft palate cases identified by the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) team or District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) are referred to empanelled private health facilities and NGOs for corrective surgery. Besides, only around 20 procedures have been conducted under the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) scheme over the last five years by one government medical college, four private medical colleges and two private hospitals.

According to a government order issued on July 28, a gap analysis of government hospitals will be done by Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), the nodal agency implementing the State’s health schemes, to identify and provide the required infrastructure. equipment or HR for conducting cleft lip and cleft palate corrective surgeries.

“A pool of mentor surgeons should be prepared, based on qualifying criteria, as decided by a committee of technical experts. A probable list of maxillofacial surgeons working in the Health and Medical Education departments should be prepared. Children who require corrective surgery should be identified by RBSK teams and allocated to private hospitals, NGOs and government hospitals for surgery. The mentor surgeons should conduct the surgery at government hospitals, and also train other surgeons,” the GO states.