Operation Smile Medical Missions to Take Place in Rajkot and Guwahati, India from January 17-February 6

An Operation Smile Medical Mission team arrived in Rajkot, India, for a medical mission taking place January 17-23, 2009.   The team consists of more than 20 medical and non-medical volunteers from India who are working side-by-side at Wockhardt Hospital with volunteers from Australia, the Philippines, and the United States to provide free physical examinations and surgeries for children suffering with facial deformities, such as cleft lips and cleft palates.  Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is a worldwide children’s medical charity dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.

Another Operation Smile Medical Mission team will arrive in Guwahati, India, for a medical mission taking place January 29-February 6, 2009 at Mahendra Mohan Choudhary Hospital.  More than 40 volunteers from India, Canada, Singapore and the United States will work together. 

These will be Operation Smile’s first international medical missions to both Rajkot and Guwahati. Since Operation Smile's first mission to India in 2002, volunteers have provided free physical examinations to more than 4,200 patients and life-changing surgery to more than 1,700 children and young adults during international medical missions throughout the country.

The last medical mission in India took place in Vijayawada from December 4-12, 2008 when an Operation Smile team of more than 40 medical and non-medical volunteers provided free medical evaluations to 250 patients and 114 received life-changing surgery.  The Operation Smile team of plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, dentists, speech therapists and others worked at The Dr. Pinnamenani Siddartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation. The team consisted of medical professionals from Australia, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and the United States, who worked with their in-country Indian counterparts.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.  Since its founding, Operation Smile volunteers have treated more than 120,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and currently work in 51 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency. 

Media Notes:  To receive images or additional information, or to request an interview with an Operation Smile spokesperson, please contact Lisa Jones at ljones@operationsmile.org or 757-321-3252.