A team of doctors and guardians with Changsi Marak (first row, third from left). Telegraph picture

Oct. 25: Nripesh Dutta, 59, had a sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his lips, as he fed his 24-year-old son at the post-operation ward of the Operation Smile Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre on the MMC Hospital premises in Panbazar.

“My son Pramin was born with a cleft lip and a deformed nose. In 1993, I had taken him to Dibrugarh for an operation, ran from one dentist to the other for years, but to no avail. However, today, my son has a reason to smile, thanks to Operation Smile,” said Dutta, a rickshaw-puller from Karimganj, who had come to the city a few days before Durga Puja.

Pramin was one among the 4,048 patients to be operated at the centre since it became functional on May 9 last year. The lanky young man had rhinoplasty — a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form and restoring the functions of the nose — apart from a cleft surgery performed on him.

“We have completed 4,048 surgeries at the centre till date. On October 15, five-year-old Changsi Marak from Larubama under Boko police station was the 4,000th patient to be operated at the centre. The surgery performed on her is termed as unilateral cleft lip repair,” Mahesh Deori, the director of the cleft care centre, told The Telegraph today.

Under the mission of Operation Smile, 7,095 surgeries, involving over 20 different types of procedures, have been performed across the state from January 2009 to the present date.

Since May 9 last year, the centre has come a long way in terms of the number of surgeries performed on a daily basis, full-time staff, and number of specialities such as speech therapy, dental care, child psychology, ENT care and nutrition for comprehensive cleft care. From four members in January 2009, currently, the centre has staff strength of over 70.

On an average, 300 surgeries are performed every month at the centre.

“During April and March next year, we have set a target of 3,500 surgeries. We are looking at performing 15 to 20 surgeries a day at the centre. As of now, we are on the right track,” he said.

While space remains a constraint, construction of another floor would take care of the problem, the director said.

“Already, the health department has proposed to the finance department for sanction of funds to construct another floor, which would help create the space for an out-patient department. The additional space would also provide room for screening patients,” Deori said.

Besides, there is a requirement of at least 10 to 12 more beds at the operation (pre and post) wards.

“As 15 surgeries are performed in a day, there is a requirement of at least 30 beds at the pre and post-operation wards. Then again, we have patients who may require at least two to five days recovery time at the ward. Therefore, a ward that can accommodate 40 patients is the need of the hour,” he added.