Luanda - Eighty people, including children and teenagers, benefit from free campaign of orthopedic surgeries "club foot" and other deformities in the lower limbs.
Clubfoot is an inborn deformity of the foot that requires adequate orthopedic treatment during the first years of life.
The campaign, started on Saturday and going until Monday, covers children from three months old and adults up to 23 years old.
The campaign is an initiative of the Ngana Zenza Foundation for Community Development (FDC), led by the First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço.
Ongoing at the Luanda General Hospital, the campaign, whose beneficiaries in this phase come from the provinces of Luanda, Huambo, Benguela, Cuando Cubango and Bié, has a partnership with the Dr. Martha Namun Jebo–Tilahun (Namibia).
Among the initiative's partners is also the International Extremity Project (IEP), in addition to the support of the Angolan Ministry of Health and the oil company Chevron.
As part of the campaign, an average of 12 to 15 children will be operated on per day at the Luanda General Hospital, said Saturday the minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta.
Speaking to the press, the official explained that the surgical and immediate post-operative part will be carried out at the hospital, adding that this action aims to reduce the waiting lists of the different hospitals in the country where highly complex orthopedic interventions take place.
She underlined the fact that the campaign has a national scope and that it should cover, in the next phase, patients from the provinces of Lunda Norte, Huíla and Cabinda.
The minister said, however, that there are more than 400 children on the waiting list and that one of the purposes of the initiative is to restore a smile to children and provide for their rapid integration into society.
CHALK/AL/NIC
