Quick Facts

• Operation Smile China Medical Mission Ltd. (OSCMM) has completed over 52 missions at 23 sites in China since its inception in 1991.
• To date, more than 8,500 children and young adults have received free reconstructive surgery in cities throughout China including Beijing (北京), Dujiangyan(都江堰), Hangzhou(杭州), Harbin(哈爾濱), Kunming(昆明), Lanzhou(蘭州), Lincang(臨滄), Linxia (臨夏), Linyi (臨沂), Meizhou (梅州), Nanchang (南昌), Nanjing (南京), Nujiang (怒江), Qingdao (青島), Shantou (山頭), Suqian(宿遷), Urumqi (烏魯木齊), Weixin (威信), Wuhan (武漢), Xian (西安), Zhaoqing (肇慶), Zhengzhou(鄭州) and Zhongshan(中山).
• In China, one out of approximately every 600 newborn babies suffers from cleftings. Often, these children have difficulty in eating, speaking, hearing or breathing properly.
• Currently, it is estimated that there are 2.5 million children in China suffering from cleftings. It is anticipated that as many as 35,000 babies will be born with a cleft lip or cleft palate in China in 2006 alone.
• It takes as little as 45 minutes for an Operation Smile cleft lip surgery to change a child's life.
• In 2001, OSCMM launched the first medical centre at the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital aimed at offering free reconstructive services to children suffering from facial deformities. OSCMM continues to provide state-of-the-art medical equipment to hospitals across China.
• Since 1991, the annual Operation Smile Physician’s Training Program, held in the United States, has provided 53 Chinese medical professionals with training in advanced and specialized surgical techniques for the treatment of children with craniofacial deformities.
• In 2005, OSCMM introduced a Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support workshop in China that was attended by 92 medical professionals.
• Operation Smile offers educational opportunities including conferences, workshops and medical exchanges to Chinese medical professionals. A delegation of four nurses and four anesthesiologists from the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital took part in an exchange program at Villanova University College of Nursing in Pennsylvania and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in the United States respectively.
• Three Chinese medical fellows participated in a Craniofacial Fellowship Program, focused on providing training in clinical leadership and cross-cultural skills, in the United States with Operation Smile Co-founder and CEO, Dr. William P. Magee Jr.
• The Roger Annenberg 1st Shanghai International Plastic Surgery Conference, in partnership with the Shanghai 2nd Medical University and the Shanghai 9th People’s Hospital, was held in March 2004 in China. The conference was attended by more than 380 Chinese medical professionals from 54 cities in 22 provinces.