Smile Train, an international children’s charity supporting free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care for children globally, inaugurated “Muskan” ward at its partner hospital, Himalayan Hospital. On September 15, Susannah Schaefer, Executive Vice Chair, President & CEO, Smile Train inaugurated “MUSKAN,” the ultramodern Smile Train ward. On this occasion a new Smile Train chariot called “MUSKAN RATH” was also launched, to support the treatment of patients living in peripheral areas and for the outfield activities of Smile Train.
The ward is aimed at providing safe and convenient treatment for children born with clefts especially from treacherous mountain terrain of the foothills of Himalayas. The ward has been designed to accommodate the patients and their families and also has an entertainment area, a playroom for the children and a dedicated media room for cleft related education and medical instructions given to the family before and after the surgery as a part of augmentation of mass awareness.
Esteemed members of the dias presented their thoughts on this momentous occasion. Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad, the Dean of Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences delivered the Welcome Address, extending warm greetings to the gathering and expressed his admiration for the Smile Train Organization. Dr. Vijendra Chauhan, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of SRHU put forth His Holiness Shri Swami Ram’s message of universal love and servitude as he accquainted the audience with SRHU and the Institution’s motto of “Love, Serve, Remember.” Ms. Mamta Carroll, Regional Director of Smile Train in Asia, shared the wisdom she had gathered during her years of experience, stressing the importance of determination, resilience and compassion.
Ms. Susannah Schaefer the CEO of Smile Train who visited from New York America to witness the quality of work being done at Himalayan Institute, delivered the Master Speech, naming Himalayan Hospital as one of the foremost of Smile Train’s partners. She extended the hope for Smile Train and Himalayan Hospital’s partnership to continue for many years to come, and thanked the doctors and staff for their dedicated service to the cause, and acknowledged their contribution to Smile Train’s mission to provide quality cleft care worldwide.
The win-win partnership of Smile Train and Himalayan Hospital was elaborated upon by Dr. Sanjay Dvivedi, Director Smile Train at Himalayan Hospital. Over 8400 patients have been operated in Himalayan Hospital. Dr. Dvivedi also extended his gratitude for the 39 patients and their families in attendance, who specially travelled from various places throughout the country including Mumbai, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Almora, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
Patients who had been operated nearly a decade ago and their families stepped forward to share their stories, highlighting their struggle and thanking both Himalayan Hospital and Smile Train for giving them a new lease on life.
The Vice Chancellor of Swami Rama Himalayan University, Dr. Vijay Dhasmana through a video message commended this unique initiative taken by the Institute and Smile Train team at Himalayan Hospital for their hard work. He said, “The Institute has been providing high quality service to the patients of cleft lip and palate with the support of Smile Train. The new ‘Muskan’ ward and ‘Muskan Rath’ will enable the team to reach new heights and provide better quality of service.”
Addressing the gathering, the Director of Smile Train at the Himalayan Hospital, Dr. Sanjay Dvivedi stated that in all of Northern India, this facility has been made available only in the Himalayan Hospital. He further added, “I hope that my team will be able to continue to provide high-quality safe and convenient medical services for the patients of cleft lip and palate under the aegis of Smile Train.” He believes that the long-term treatment of cleft involves many medical specialties and needs a comprehensive family and social care system in addition to the surgery. He thanked his patients because of whom he could develop an Innovative Hydrodissection Device along with Dr. Jyoti Dvivedi. This invention has won a National Award in Innovative Instrument Designing and had brought down the complications of the very intricate surgery to bare minimum.
Since 2000, Smile Train India has supported more than 550,000 free cleft surgeries across India, through a network of 160+ partner hospitals. Smile Train has supported over 8,000 free cleft lip and palate reconstructive surgeries in Himalayan Hospital, Dehradun since 2004. Smile Train’s sustainable model provides training, funding and resources to empower local medical professionals to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities.
