Operation Smile In Ecuador has delivered top-quality care and provided surgery to 28,000+ children born with cleft conditions.
THE NEED
Cleft prevalence. In Ecuador, every 1 in 400 infants are born with cleft conditions. Patients living with cleft conditions often have to wait for over a year to receive the care that they need. Operation Smile’s survey revealed that 81% of patients arriving at Operation Smile programs in Ecuador could not have undergone surgery without the support of Operation Smile.
Shortage of medical providers. 86% of public health care providers and 96% of private providers work in urban areas, leaving rural regions insufficiently covered. Ecuador has 59 specialized surgical workers per 100,000 people, which falls short of the average number of 71 specialist surgical workers in high-income countries.
The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery proposed that, to meet the populations’ needs, countries should achieve 5,000 surgical procedures per 100,000 population. In Ecuador, medical providers perform just 1,552 procedures for 100,000 population.
Financial burden. 48% of patients arriving at Operation Smile programs in Ecuador live below the poverty line and 77% have no health insurance. Out of pocket expenses prevent individuals from accessing the care that they need. 15% of the population is at risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care, while 23% faces catastrophic expenditure in case of surgical care.
A study found that many people working in agriculture and animal farming could not afford to take time away from work to spend money on travel, appointments and medications.
Barriers to education. In Ecuador, 20% of patients arriving at Operation Smile programs reported that their condition limited their school attendance, while 26% said their school performance was affected.
OUR FORMULA FOR TRANSFORMATION
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.
Our work in health policy & advocacy and health infrastructure & equipment addresses structural barriers to care and helps build robust health systems. Operation Smile’s research & innovation efforts inform all aspects of our decision-making and allow us to have a comprehensive understanding of the impact our programs have on patients.
HUBS & 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 Ecuador, Operation Smile provides quality cleft care at our hub, the Operation Smile Comprehensive Care Center in the city of Quito.
Operation Smile currently has spokes in Guayaquil at IESS Los Ceibos and Manta at Hospital General Manta lESS. This year, we will work to establish spokes in Loja at Clinica San Jose and Quito at North Hospital.
Operation Smile partners with hospitals in Santo Domingo, Cuenca, Tena, Tulcan and Latacunga.
During Fiscal Year July 2024-June 2025, Operation Smile Canada has committed to invest $112,795, accounting for 14% of Ecuador’s total projected budget for the fiscal year. This will directly contribute to providing life-changing surgeries for 290 patients and provide training and education for around 180 health workers.
Cleft Care Programs
Operation Smile will provide surgical care for 290 patients in Ecuador. We will expand comprehensive cleft care services by providing consultations in oral health (1,080 patients), nutrition (~240 patients), speech therapy (~650 patients) and psychosocial care (~340 patients). Operation Smile will expand nutrition and oral health care in Tena where 60% of patients are malnourished and have limited access to oral health services.
Education
Operation Smile will enhance the quality of health services in Ecuador by educating and training around 180 health professionals. We will provide American Heart Association courses for health workers in Quito, Guayaquil, Ambato, Manta, Machala and Tena. Across the country, Operation Smile will offer educational opportunities in nursing, anesthesia, pediatrics, speech therapy, psychology and other specialties.
FIVE-YEAR VISION
Over the next five years, we will impact the lives of 15,000 patients with cleft conditions, through surgical and non-surgical services.
Operation Smile will provide medical education and training opportunities for approximately 970 health workers, ensuring that patients have access to the best possible care. We will provide training in Life Support, cleft surgery, anesthesia, pediatrics, nursing, psychology, oral health, speech and nutrition. We will also deliver training opportunities for scrub nurses and biomedical technicians.
