Since 1988, Operation Smile has delivered more than 25,650 high-quality surgeries for patients with cleft conditions.
As part of our Transcending Borders Signature Initiative to create brighter futures for migrant children born with cleft conditions, Operation Smile provides care for patients in La Guajira, one of Colombia’s more under-resourced departments, where many Venezuelan migrants have settled.
But there is more to do.
During Fiscal Year July 2025-June 2026, Operation Smile will invest $1.3 million to provide high-quality surgery for over 570 patients and deliver training to more than 540 medical providers.
Cleft Care Programs
We will provide surgical care for over 570 patients. We will expand comprehensive cleft care services by providing consultations in oral health (1,080 patients), nutrition (130 patients), psychosocial care (~2,320 patients) and speech therapy (~4,030 patients). Due to Colombia’s geographic barriers to care, we will utilize a phone and telehealth system to ensure local providers can communicate continuously with our experts in cleft care located in the main cities, providing consultations in difficult cases.
Education Programs
To effectively provide cleft care across Colombia, our training approach is based on building a network of cleft care providers that integrates primary care providers and surgical providers. By strengthening local capacity and improving coordination with primary care, we ensure that patients have better access to the specialized care they need, when they need it. By equipping these local professionals with the basic knowledge and skills needed to manage initial cleft care, we can significantly enhance early intervention and support. Over the course of the fiscal year, Operation Smile plans to provide education and training for over 540 medical providers in the fields of plastic surgery, anesthesia, nursing, surgical instrumentation and pediatrics.
THE NEED
One in 800 children. One in 800 children are born with a cleft condition. According to Operation Smile’s estimates, there are between 45,000 and 65,000 people affected by cleft conditions in Colombia, and most of them have not received comprehensive cleft care.
Unequal distribution of providers. Because most plastic surgeons work in the main urban centers, patients living outside of the bigger cities have limited access to specialized care. Inadequate transport infrastructure in rural departments makes travel to surgical centers difficult for families. Colombia has significant geographical dispersion, with Indigenous and rural populations located far from care centers. 7.1 million people, or 15% of the population, do not have access to a Bellwether-capable operating room within a 2-hour travel radius. A Bellwether-capable operating room is one that can perform three essential surgical procedures – cesarean delivery, laparotomy, and treatment of open fractures – serving as a benchmark for a functioning surgical system.
Shortage of health workforce for cleft care. Colombia has 13.7 surgical workers per 100,000 people. This falls below the Lancet Commission’s minimum target of 20 providers. Despite virtually universal health coverage, access to cleft care in Colombia remains limited and highly inequitable due to structural barriers that hinder cleft service provision in many areas of the country. Operation Smile estimates that there are about 45 surgeons who are trained and proficient in cleft care provision, not enough to support the needs of people living with cleft conditions.
BRINGING CARE CLOSER TO HOME
To ensure that every child has access to care close to home, we equip the providers within our patients’ communities with skills and resources to deliver high-quality care. We strengthen health system capacity by harnessing the talent and resources concentrated in larger cities, the hubs, to train providers in under-resourced areas, the spokes, where access to care is most limited.
In Colombia, we leverage the workforce, expertise and resources from Bogotá, Valledupar, Cali, Montería and Barranquilla, our hubs, where there is greater access to specialized care and advanced training.
These locations support our spokes located in Duitama, Zipaquirá, Riohacha, Popayán, Apartadó, Sincelejo, Cartagena and Santa Marta.
FIVE-YEAR VISION
Over the next five years, Operation Smile will provide surgeries for approximately 3,420 patients. To address the unequal access to cleft surgery and care, Operation Smile will expand its education programs and provide hands-on specialty-specific training opportunities for health professionals at our hospital partners.
Operation Smile will create new university partnerships and offer a digital learning platform for professionals with limited access to learning opportunities.
Operation 100, our bold strategy to bring essential surgical care closer to patients’ homes, will impact Colombia as we equip cleft operative teams at Hospital Regional de Duitama in Duitama and Hospital Regional de Zipaquira in Zipaquira with advanced skills, essential equipment and enhanced health care infrastructure over the next five years.
