Abbott supports Operation Smile medical missions in 25 countries
4 December 2007 Abbott is supporting Operation Smile's global
initiative to help children with facial deformities by providing treatment
to an estimated 5,000 children in need of surgery.
The initiative, which is part of Operation Smile's 25th anniversary
celebration — World Journey of Smiles — consists of 40 medical missions
across 25 countries. Abbott has donated 1,700 bottles of its anaesthesia
product, valued at almost $500,000, for the surgeries. Since 1993, Abbott
and Abbott Fund have donated more than $3 million in grants and products to
support Operation Smile medical missions, helping treat more than 20,000
patients worldwide. In 2005, Abbott Fund expanded its partnership with
Operation Smile to help build sustainable healthcare capacity in developing
countries, including strengthening the expertise of paediatricians and
anaesthesiologists to provide emergency critical care. To date, Abbott Fund
and Operation Smile have trained more than 1,600 health workers in nine
developing countries. "Abbott has supported Operation Smile for many
years, and once again is providing critical support as we work to transform
the lives of children through our World Journey of Smiles initiative," said
Bill Magee, M.D., Co-founder and CEO of Operation Smile. "We are proud to be
their partner in improving the health of children and adults around the
world." "Abbott is proud to help Operation Smile accomplish its 25th
anniversary goal of bringing smiles and hope to an estimated 5,000 children
in 25 countries," said Kathy Pickus, director, Global Citizenship and
Policy, Abbott. "Through ongoing medical missions and programs to train
health workers, we look forward to continuing our partnership to make an
enduring contribution to improving people's lives." About Operation
Smile
Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide
children's medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated
to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. Since
its founding, it has treated more than 100,000 children born with cleft
lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.
Operation Smile ran the World Journey of Smiles from 7-16 November, 2007.
More than 1,700 volunteers participated in the mission, including over 700
from the United States and over 1000 from 43 other countries. It involved 40
hospitals, care centres and clinics in 25 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe,
Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.The mission had the goal of
treating 5,000 children born with cleft lips and cleft palates. Operation
Smile's co-founders, Dr Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon and his wife Kathy
Magee, a former nurse and clinical social worker launched this mission on 7
November in Naga City, the Philippines, the site of their first mission, 25
years ago. In this year's World Journey of Smiles, Operation Smile Jordan
chartered a flight to Bagdad to pick up 30 children in need of surgery and
took them to Amman in Jordan along with 10 Iraqi doctors who assisted in the
surgical operations. It also treated children from throughout Jordan. In
Kisumu, Kenya, three children from one family joined their father and
brother in having their cleft lips and palates repaired to give them all the
ability to smile. See videos of the mission's activities on the
Videos on World Healthcare pages. For
more information on Operation Smile see:
www.operationsmile.org To top
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