Operation Smile brings Women in Medicine program to Cebu

CEBU, Philippines —  Operation Smile is launching its new global initiative Women in Medicine program in the Asia region with an all-female international surgical and educational mission in Cebu City from October 10 to 15, 2022.

The Women in Medicine is aimed at putting the spotlight on the critical role women play in the global healthcare system, and to encourage them to take on leadership roles in their professions.

The Cebu launch will kick off with a one-day forum on women empowerment in the medical field for all the participants, followed by four days of free surgeries and care for 80 children with cleft lip and cleft palate at the Cebu City Medical Center.

This activity will be done in partnership with its in-country foundation, Operation Smile Philippines, longtime NGO ally in Cebu, the MSY Charitable Foundation, and the Cebu City Government.

Operation Smile assembled a team of 60 volunteer cleft care professionals from 12 countries.

The multinational team comprises plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, dentists, speech therapists, child life specialists and biomedical technicians from the U.S., Vietnam, Australia, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Honduras, Sweden, UK, Egypt, South Africa, and the Philippines.

“Our ultimate goal is to inspire and enable women to take on leadership roles in the medical field so they can help shape policies that would attract more women into the fold and equip them with global-standard skills to widen access to safe surgery and quality cleft care,” said Operation Smile Philippines trustee and MSYCF chief executive officer, Martin Yeung.

“By empowering women in medicine at the local and regional level, we are creating a transformative change that will ripple across the healthcare landscape,” he added.

Operation Smile Co-Founder and President, Kathleen Magee, in a press statement, said that “Women in Medicine” is central to their 10-year goal of increasing access to quality care for one million patients around the world, and to help build global health infrastructure.

Magee said that the program seeks to educate women in resource-poor countries on advanced medical practices, empower them become leaders in global medicine, expand opportunities for female health care workers in underserved communities, and elevate the quality of cleft care.

Magee added that there are five million patients in need of cleft care in the countries they work in, and five billion people who lack access to safe surgery across the world.

“We can’t address this need without more women in the health care arena,” Magee said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) women comprise 70 percent of health professionals across the world.

Operation Smile Philippines’ executive director, Emiliano Romano, said the novel Women in Medicine initiative is being piloted in the Philippines, where Operation Smile started in 1982, as well as in Morocco, Malawi, and Peru.

The plan is to roll out the program in all 35 Operation Smile program countries, Romano added. — GMR (FREEMAN)