RONALD McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Malaysia, the charity of choice for McDonald’s Malaysia, is calling on Malaysians to help raise awareness on cleft lip and palate through its #CleftLipChallenge.
The challenge that began on March 20 seeks support towards RMHC Malaysia’s “Gift of Smile” programme that helps children born with cleft lip and palate to undergo corrective surgeries.
The #CleftLipChallenge encourages Malaysians to record their experience Drinking with a slit straw, post the video on their social platforms and pass the challenge to others to do the same – with the aim of raising awareness on the difficulties faced by children born with cleft lip and palate.
Cleft lip and palate, or known as CLP, is one of the most common birth defects affecting children in Malaysia, with one in every 700 new-born babies in Malaysia diagnosed with CLP.
“Every child should experience a happy childhood and here at RMHC Malaysia, we are committed to ensuring these children have the opportunity to lead healthy and fun-filled lives.
“Through the #CleftLipChallenge, we want people to experience first-hand the challenges faced by babies or children living with CLP.
“We want to raise awareness among the public so that more people are informed of this issue and will hopefully donate to the “Gift of Smile” Program,” said Azmir Jaafar, President of RMHC Malaysia.
It is estimated that one in every 700 new-born babies in Malaysia are diagnosed with a cleft lip or palate. Although this condition is non-life threatening, its huge psychological impact may deter these children from leading normal lives.
Since its inception in 2004, the RMHC’s “Gift of Smile” programme has injected more than RM4.8 million in helping more than 700 children born with cleft lip and palate to undergo corrective operations.
As they grow up, these children will also need additional and different stages of corrective operations to treat this birth defect.
They must have proper dental care, orthodontics services, alveolar bone grafts and even speech therapy to manage or correct their conditions.
