Operation Smile has been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), providing safe and comprehensive care and delivering life-changing surgeries to more than 2,500 children born with cleft conditions.
THE NEED
One in 1,260 children are born with a cleft condition. In the DRC, it is estimated that for every 1,258 births, one child is born with a cleft condition.
Out-of-pocket expenses. In the DRC, 74% of the population faces the risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgery, meaning they must make out-of-pocket payments exceeding the average household income. In comparison, only 2% of the population in high-income countries encounters this risk.
A shortfall of health workers for cleft-affected patients. Compared to high-income countries, which have an average of 11.4 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people, the DRC faces a shortage of just 1.1 nurses and midwives per 1,000 individuals.
The DRC has fewer than one specialized surgical worker per 100,000 people, while in high-income countries the rate stands at 71 specialized workers per 100,000 people. This is also far below the target of 20 specialized surgical workers per 100,000 people set by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery.
OUR FORMULA FOR TRANSFORMATION
Operation Smile’s formula for transformational impact combines care delivery & capacity-building.
Education programs are at the center of Operation Smile’s strategy to increase access to surgery closer to the patient’s home.
Each surgical program brings together providers from all over the world for a unique opportunity to share knowledge and innovate. This type of bi-directional learning is essential to redistributing knowledge between providers and building capacity in the areas of greatest need.
HUB & SPOKES
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 build the needed capacity by harnessing the talent and resources that exist within the country, usually in the bigger cities (the hubs) to train providers in under-resourced areas (the spokes) where most patients lack access to care.
In the DRC, Operation Smile has hubs in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.
90% of patients who arrive at Operation Smile programs travel more than 12 hours to receive care due to the country’s poor road systems. To address this, Operation Smile has established a roaming comprehensive care program to bring care to patients unable to reach it otherwise.
During Fiscal Year July 2024-June 2025, Operation Smile Canada has committed to invest $481,655, accounting for 53% of the DRC’s total projected budget for the fiscal year. This will directly contribute to providing cleft surgery to 350 patients and provide training opportunities to over 160 Congolese medical professionals.
Cleft Care Programs
Over the course of this year, Operation Smile will deliver surgery to 350 patients. We will expand comprehensive cleft care in the DRC by providing consultations in oral health for 200 patients, in ENT for 200 patients and in speech therapy for 30 patients.
Education
Operation Smile will provide training opportunities to over 160 Congolese medical professionals. Partnering with Congolese medical leaders and enabling access to education opportunities will allow local health systems to provide care to a greater number of patients. We will offer courses, workshops and education programs in cleft surgery and other multidisciplinary specialties. Our partnerships with the College of Anesthesiologists of East, Central and Southern Africa (CANECSA) and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) will enable training to plastic surgeons and anesthetists. In addition, over the course of the following year, we will provide health workers with Basic Life Support training through the American Heart Association.
FIVE-YEAR VISION
Over the next five years, Operation Smile will provide comprehensive cleft care to over 7,000 patients across six regions. This effort will include the participation of two hubs and four spokes with the aid of two referral hospital partners, while simultaneously strengthening the health system to ensure sustainable progress across four new provinces in the country.
Through a blend of short-term surgical programs and hospital-based partnerships, we will provide cleft surgery to almost 2,500 patients.
Operation Smile will create centres of excellence in training and surgical and comprehensive cleft care at hub hospitals in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Our training programs will dramatically increase the number of plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists and other medical professionals working in the country.
