​Wudang launches cleft lip and palate public welfare aid campaign

The 2023 Guiyang "Mother's Smile Initiative" is launched at the Affiliated Wudang Hospital of Guizhou Medical University on Aug 16. [Photo/WeChat account of Wudang district]

2023 Guiyang "Mother's Smile Initiative" was launched at the Affiliated Wudang Hospital of Guizhou Medical University in Wudang district, Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, on Aug 16.

The event was co-hosted by the China Women's Development Foundation and the Guizhou Provincial Women's Federation and co-organized by the Guizhou Provincial Women and Children Development Foundation, the Hangzhou Operation Smile Charity Hospital, and the Affiliated Wudang Hospital of Guizhou Medical University.

The "Mother's Smile Initiative" is a charitable project jointly initiated by the China Women's Development Foundation and the Hangzhou Operation Smile Charity Hospital. It is dedicated to providing free treatment for children from disadvantaged families suffering from cleft lip and palate as well as craniofacial deformities.

Forty-two medical volunteers and over 60 social volunteers from 15 provinces and cities across the country provided free centralized preoperative screenings for more than 140 children from low-income families as well as free surgical treatment for eligible children who meet the surgical criteria.

Since 2012, the "Mother's Smile Initiative" has opened a total of 16 charitable clinics within Guizhou province, screening and treating 1,586 patients and performing 1,141 free surgeries. This has helped the patients regain their confidence and bring back their radiant smiles.