Abstract
Background. The opportunity to provide free surgical care for orofacial clefts has opened a new vista and is enhanced by well-informed communities who are aware of the free surgical services available to them. It is the responsibility of cleft care providers to adequately inform these communities via a combination of community mobilization and awareness creation. Methods. This was a nationwide, cross-sectional descriptive study of all orofacial cleft service providers in Nigeria using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Results. A total of 4648 clefts have been repaired, 50.8% by the ten government-owned and 49.2% by the five nongovernment-owned organizations included in the study. The nongovernment-owned institutions seemed to be more aggressive about community mobilization and awareness creation than government-owned ones, and this was reflected in their patient turnout. Most of the organizations studied would prefer a separate, independent body to handle their awareness campaign. Conclusion. Community mobilization requires skill and dedication and may require formal training or dedicated budgets by government-owned and nongovernment-owned institutions alike. Organizations involved in cleft care provision must take community mobilization and awareness seriously if the largely unmet needs of orofacial cleft patients in Nigeria are to be tackled.
Highlights
Orofacial clefts (OFC) are a common congenital malformation of the head and neck and the prevalence in Nigeria is 0.5 per 1000 live births [1]
Fifteen (15) centers distributed across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria were included in the study, and majority (60%) was located in the Northern region of the country
The nongovernment owned organizations (NGOOs) were more likely to engage in community mobilization than government-owned organizations (GOOs)
Summary
Orofacial clefts (OFC) are a common congenital malformation of the head and neck and the prevalence in Nigeria is 0.5 per 1000 live births [1]. The impact of OFC is manifold, affecting the patients themselves and their immediate family on one hand and the society they belong to on the other [4, 5] It affects physical functions such as speech, biting, sucking, and swallowing [6] and has diverse psychological effects on both the patient and their parents [4]. The opportunity to provide free surgical care for orofacial clefts has opened a new vista and is enhanced by wellinformed communities who are aware of the free surgical services available to them. Organizations involved in cleft care provision must take community mobilization and awareness seriously if the largely unmet needs of orofacial cleft patients in Nigeria are to be tackled
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