KDF Executive Director Sylvia M. Ordoñez said patients in Luzon affected by the birth defects can go to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Gymnasium on August 5 for the final screening and scheduling of surgical operations on board the US Navy Mercy Ship.
Ordonez also said free transportation to Subic will be provided to patients and their care-givers or companions during the media forum dubbed “Inn the News CAMI” organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), the Social Security System (SSS) and the Holiday Inn at the hotel’s Molave room last Friday.
Patients and their companions can also go to the KDF-Jesus A. Datu Medical Center (JADMC) in Barangay San Vicente, Bacolor, Pampanga on Aug. 5 for free transportation, she added.
May Shilton, past president of the Rotary Club of Mabalacat and overall mission coordinator, said the KDF can also be accessed through telephone numbers 045-4580027; 0917563314 and 09998847060 for further inquiries.
Indigent patients and their care-giver/companions will also be sheltered for free at the SBMA Convention Center before and after the surgery, Ordonez said.
She clarified that the mission is giving priority to cleft lip and cleft palate patients aged six months to two years old “because those operated at an early age have a better chance of recovering their ability to speak 100 percent.”
Shilton said the mission is ready to provide surgical operation on for at least 200 patients aboard the US Navy Mercy Ship presently winding up a medical mercy mission in Roxas City.
Ordonez said “this is the reason why we’re asking everybody to spread this news to help as many individuals as possible.”
She also encouraged older and other cleft lip and cleft palate patients to register for free surgery that will be undertaken at the cleft lip/palate center that the KDF will start operating this September at the JADMC.
This center, the first of its kind in Asia-Pacific, will continue to be supported by Operation Smile, Ordonez said.
Next month’s mission for cleft lip and cleft palate patients is a joint undertaking of the KDF, Operation Smile, the Rotary Club and SBMA.
