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Puno (Agenzia Fides) - For the ninth consecutive year the volunteers of Operation Smile International have planned a series of surgeries at the Manuel Núñez Butrón Regional Hospital of the city of Puno. A statement sent to Fides by Radio Onda Azul reads that, in the last 17 years, over 5,000 children with cleft lip have received free surgery. After a careful selection and evaluation of cases according to aspects of plastic surgery, anesthesiology, pediatrics, nursing, speech therapy, psychology and dentistry, it was decided that 15 patients with cleft lip and palate will be operated every day. Operation Smile International was established in 1982 in the United States.
Thousands of volunteers from more than 80 Countries around the world, have so far carried out more than 240,000 free surgeries, changing the lives of thousands of children. Today the main focus of the non-profit organization is to promote and support the establishment of medical self-sufficiency at a local level, through the progressive improvement of the health infrastructure and formation of doctors. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 11/11/2016)
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