Since 1991, Operation Smile China has provided clinical care for over 30,000 people living with cleft conditions.
But there is more to do.
In Fiscal Year July 2025-June 2026, Operation Smile will invest $557,300 to perform life-changing surgeries for 990 patients and provide training and education for nearly 1,720 health workers.
Cleft Care Programs
This year, Operation Smile will provide surgical care for 990 patients. Operation Smile will ensure that our patients have access to high-quality multidisciplinary services before and after cleft surgery. We will expand comprehensive cleft care programs by providing consultations in oral health (∼390 patients), nutrition (∼450 patients) and speech therapy (∼400 patients).
Education Programs
To increase access to cleft care in China, Operation Smile will provide training for nearly 1,720 health workers. We will deliver courses in collaboration with the American Heart Association. Medical volunteers will receive training in nutrition, which will help us provide malnourished and underweight patients and their caregivers with the highest quality nutrition counseling and follow-up care. We will also deliver training in anesthesia, cleft surgery, nursing, pediatrics, biomedical technology, oral health, psychology and speech therapy. Operation Smile will equip nearly 330 caregivers in China with the knowledge and skills needed to support children throughout their cleft care journey. A key education initiative planned for this year is a collaboration with the Chinese Stomatological Association, which aims to establish partnerships with five colleges of stomatology and their affiliated hospitals across China, expanding opportunities for care.
Operation 100, our bold strategy to bring essential surgical care closer to patients’ homes, will impact China this year as we equip a cleft operative team in Mengzi, Yunnan and in Lincang, Yunnan with advanced skills, essential equipment and enhanced health care infrastructure.
THE NEED
1.4 in 1,000 births. In China, the cleft prevalence is 1.4 per 1,000 live births, meaning that at least one child per every 1,000 is born with a cleft condition.
Limited specialized cleft expertise. Due to a shortfall of qualified physicians, nearly a quarter of doctors practicing in community health centers, township health centers and community health stations are not licensed. China has 40 specialist surgical workers per 100,000 people, which falls short of the average number of 71 specialist surgical workers in high-income countries.
Barriers to care. Out-of-pocket expenses create additional barriers to care for people living with cleft conditions. Nearly every tenth individual suffers from catastrophic expenditure for surgical care. A study found that people living in China’s rural areas were more likely to incur catastrophic expenditures on health. The Lancet Commission proposed that to meet populations’ needs, countries should perform 5,000 surgical procedures per 100,000 population. With 2,732 surgeries per 100,000 people, China fails to meet this target. Limited access to surgical procedures exacerbates the issue of out-of-pocket expenses and hinders people’s ability to access proper care.
BRINGING CARE CLOSER TO HOME
To ensure that every child has access to care close to home, we equip the providers within our patients’ communities with skills and resources to deliver high-quality care. We strengthen health system capacity by harnessing the talent and resources concentrated in larger cities, the hubs, to train providers in under-resourced areas, the spokes, where access to care is most limited.
Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Changsha serves as a hub, providing quality care for our patients.
The spokes are strategically based inWenshan, Mengzi, Luodian, Lincang, Yingjiang and Baoshan.
FIVE-YEAR VISION
Over the next five years, Operation Smile aims to deliver high-quality cleft surgeries to approximately 5,100 patients in China. We will provide consultations to over 4,000 patients, expanding access to comprehensive cleft care in China.
We will address barriers to cleft care in China by increasing the number of skilled and qualified medical providers. We will provide Post Anesthesia Care Unit training and courses in collaboration with the American Heart Association and virtual training in various specialties. Operation Smile will expand comprehensive cleft care services by training volunteers in the fields of dentistry, nutrition, speech therapy, psychology and others.
Operation 100, our bold strategy to bring essential surgical care closer to patients’ homes, will impact China as we equip a cleft operative team at Shandong, Xinjiang, Luodian, Yingjiang and Baoshan with advanced skills, essential equipment and enhanced health care infrastructure over the next five years.