By Chimezie Godfrey
The Smile Train, a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, has been advised to educate more medical personnel, to create more awareness on its activities and serve as referral agents to victims of cleft.
This was contained in a Communique issued at the end of a two day workshop for selected journalists in Nigeria tasked on creating the needed awareness on cleft through robust reporting/publication of the subject matter to enable those suffering from the medical condition get treatment.
The Communique was signed by the Chairman, Communique drafting committee, Polycap Auta and Secretary, Patricia Amogu
The Communique revealed that the participants in the training which held from August 22 to August 23, 2022 at Bridge waters Hotel, Wuye, Abuja, agreed to form a network of journalists who will support Smile Train to advocate, sensitise and identify cleft patients in communities and ensure they get treatment.
According to it, participants agreed to play their roles in the collaborative reporting project with the Smile Train by highlighting creative and promising innovations adopted by the organisation to tackle cleft in the society.
It therefore called on Smile Train to to educate more medical personnel, who would serve as referral agents to victims of cleft.
The Communique stated,”Develop a template for a 4-month Action Plan highlighting actionable storylines with specific thematic areas on cleft, dates of delivery of the stories, designated media organisations and team lead for each area.
“That the network will report and elevate the voices of those with live experiences of cleft and in so doing help others ho are suffering same medical condition to come out for treatment.
“That progress made by the network in the implementation of the collaborative reporting project action plan will be evaluated by a combined team of Smile Train and its partners
“That the newtwork has agreed to an action plan with Smile Train to create the needed awareness on cleft through robust reporting/publication of the subject matter to alleviate poverty, promote local programmes, etc.
“Participants advised Smile Train to use beneficiaries of its intervention as cleft advocates and train key stakeholders in communities (like religious leaders, community leaders, youth and women groups, etc) towards creating deeper awareness on cleft.
“Participants also advised Smile Train to educate more medical personnel, particularly the ones working in primary healthcare as who create more awareness on its activities and serve as referral agents to victims of cleft.”
The Communique further stated that the Smile Train should intensify its visibility on social media and should produce and distribute materials such as t-shirts, banners, fliers, hand bangles, etc to members of the public as means of creating more awareness on cleft
It also stressed that Smile Train should support CBOs and FBOs, to ensure national and international cleft day is marked with road shows and other activities as means of creating adequate awareness.
Smile Train is the World’s largest cleft-focused organisation which provides training, funding and resources to empower local medical professionals in over 70 countries to provide 100 per cent free, safe, timely and comprehensive cleft surgeries and other forms of essential cleft care in their own communities.
