With a long-term partnership since 2019, the IVL Foundation (IVLF) continues its support of Operation Smile Thailand (OST) in 2024. This collaboration aligns with IVLF’s objective to provide healthcare assistance to the underprivileged across Thailand. Under this partnership, IVLF supports OST in providing comprehensive cleft care for children and parents affected by this condition. The support also extends to cover the treatment of patients with burn scars, wounds, and contractures.
2025 Program Highlights
In February, Operation Smile Thailand launched its first short-term medical mission of the year in Mae Hong Son, deploying multidisciplinary teams to deliver free surgical care in remote communities. A total of 119 patients were screened, and 93 received life-changing surgeries. Treatments addressed cleft lips and palates, burn scars, and congenital conditions such as fused or extra fingers, along with other facial deformities.
2024 Program Highlights
Operation Smile Thailand provided medical treatment to 839 patients with conditions such as cleft lip, cleft palate, syndactyly, polydactyly, burn scars, wounds, and contractures through Weeklong Medical Missions, Ongoing Medical Missions, and Individual Missions.
Additionally, 2,278 medical and non-medical volunteers, along with students, participated in various training sessions, including life support, biomedical training, and cleft prevention education. They also attended conferences on Burn & Wound Healing and Thai Cleft Lip & Craniofacial care, as well as workshops on Burn & Wound Management Cadaveric procedures.
Pattani Weeklong Medical Mission
From May 12 to 14, 2024, OST organized its first-ever medical mission in Pattani province. The mission aimed to assemble top medical specialists from Bangkok, including pediatricians, anesthesiologists, dentists, and plastic surgeons, for a weeklong operation to provide free surgery for underprivileged children with cleft palates and other facial deformities. Nearly 70 families came for screening, with almost half of them being children with cleft lip and palate conditions—an unusually high number compared to other missions. By the end of the screening day, 47 patients were found healthy enough to receive surgery.
For more information on the project from 2019 to 2023, please click the links below.
