Smile Week helps children at Tygerberg Hospital
Sihaam Ahmed, 2, from Bellville is a beneficiary of the Smile Week and had a cleft lip repair on Monday.
Image: Supplied
The Smile Foundation is back at Tygerberg Hospital to conduct reconstructive surgeries for children from disadvantaged areas and 13 children will benefit this time.
Smile Week, during which operations are conducted, began on Monday May 26 and is set to end on Friday May 30.
The foundation has partnered with the hospital's surgical team and Vodacom Foundation.
Eight children received this service last November.
The foundation spokesperson Toni Jabour said five children had been operated on since Smile Week started on Monday. She said two of those were major surgeries.
Tygerberg’s medical team has also adopted an innovative cleft lip repair technique pioneered by Dr Robert Mann, a craniofacial surgeon from Michigan.
“This technique not only improves aesthetic outcomes but dramatically reduces recovery time, allowing children to smile, speak, and engage with their world sooner and more confidently,” the foundation said in a statement.