Accra: Smile Train, a non-government organisation, has ended its 2026 Indo-Africa Cleft Conference in Goa, India, with a renewed commitment to deepening collaboration between healthcare professionals in India and Africa. The two-day conference, themed 'Synergy 2026: Excelling Together,' brought together more than 160 health specialists and professionals from both regions, including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, speech therapists, orthodontists, and other cleft care specialists.
According to Ghana News Agency, the conference was a revival of an initiative established in 2012, focusing on sharing knowledge, best practices, and innovations to advance sustainable cleft care and strengthen local healthcare systems. Over the past decade, India and Africa have made significant strides in expanding access to comprehensive cleft care, each developing unique areas of excellence through real-world experience and field-led innovation. The conference provided a platform to exchange proven approaches, adopt best practices, and develop solutions to strengthen cleft care across both regions, aligning with Smile Train's global goal to ensure that every child born with a cleft has access to safe, timely, and comprehensive care.
The statement from the conference highlighted expert discussions, knowledge sharing, and hands-on workshops on surgical excellence, patient safety, advocacy, and the full continuum of comprehensive cleft care beyond surgery. The Indo-Africa Synergy represents more than just a conference; it signifies a decade-long partnership where both regions have built remarkable expertise through locally led programs, learning from one another as equal partners, sharing knowledge, strengthening skills, and co-creating solutions for better outcomes for every child born with a cleft.
The conference reflected Smile Train's model of strengthening local healthcare systems through continuous training, mentorship, and global knowledge exchange. Smile Train's programs in Africa began in 2002, now spanning nearly 40 countries and transforming the lives of over 200,000 cleft-affected individuals. In India, the organization has supported more than 800,000 free cleft surgeries since 2000 through a network of over 130 partner hospitals. Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with the requisite training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally, advancing a sustainable and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, improving children's ability to eat, breathe, speak, and thrive.