HYDERABAD, Nov 21: The first ever free camp for surgery of cleft lip and cleft palate is being jointly organised by the Lions Club, Hajiani Welfare Foundation, Smael Train Organisation New York and Cointer Foundation at the Hajiani Day and Night Hospital in the city on November 24.

Speaking at a press conference at the press club on Monday, camp chairman Dr Iqbal Haroon Memon, Farooq Shaikhani, Farooq Habib and Dr Seeri Chand Raja said that patients would be examined after registration and there would be no charges for surgery, medical test and medicines.

The operations will be performed by noted plastic surgeon from Karachi, Dr Ashraf Ghanatra.

They said the causes of palate and lip cleft in some cases were hereditary while the others were results of marriages between cousins, iron and folic acid deficiency and unnecessary use of medicines.

They made it clear that the sun and the moon eclipses had nothing to do with palate and lip clefts.

They said that Pakistan was at number four in this deformity while China was at number one, India number two and Indonesia number three.

They said that in Pakistan 70,200 children were born with these defects in a year.

They said that in the long run, children suffering from the deformity became psychic patients and suffered from depression.

The experts stressed the need for timely surgery and said operation of palate cleft must be performed between the age of 12 months to 18 months whereas the lip cleft operation could be performed at any age not unless the child was three months old.

They appealed to the parents of such children right upto Sukkur to bring their deformed children for registration and operation.

They said that if all operation could not be performed at Hyderabad, the registered children would be taken to Karachi on some other date without any charges for operation.