Smile Train India gets Oracle grant

Hyderabad: Smile Train India, the world's leading cleft organisation, received their second grant from Oracle for free cleft treatment for children in need. The grant for the fiscal year 2019-20 will help support free cleft surgeries and comprehensive cleft care for 365 children in Telugu-speaking states. Smile Train India has supported more than 5,50,000 free cleft surgeries across India, through a network of 160+ partner hospitals, providing treatment at Hyderabad.

In India, it is estimated that more than 35,000 babies are born with clefts every year. Hundreds of thousands of children with untreated clefts live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking, as their families cannot afford the life-transforming cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care they need.

Smile Train India's "teach a man to fish" model focuses on training, funding, and supplying resources for local medical professionals to provide cleft treatment in their own communities. These medical professionals then go on to train other medical professionals, creating a long-term and sustainable system.

"Long-term support from organisations like Oracle is vital in building sustainability, and this grant will help us continue to strengthen our cleft treatment programs in Hyderabad and allow us to reach out to more cleft patients through our partner hospitals," said Mamta Carroll, Vice President and Regional Director, Asia, Smile Train.

"The grant is part of Oracle's commitment to advance education, protect the environment, and strengthen communities, we are proud to support Smile Train India to do more services," said Colleen Cassity, Executive Director, Oracle Corporate Citizenship.