By Regina Benneh
Sunyani (Bono), July 24, GNA-Smile Train, a non-government organisation, has ended its 2026 Indo-Africa Cleft Conference in Goa, India, with a renewed commitment to deepening collaboration between healthcare professionals in India and Africa.
The two-day conference was on the theme: “Synergy 2026: Excelling together”, and the conference brought together more than 160 health specialists and professionals from India and Africa.
They comprised surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, speech therapists, orthodontists and other cleft care specialists.
A statement issued after the conference and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) described the conference as a revival of an initiative established in 2012, focusing on sharing knowledge, best practices and innovations advance sustainable cleft care and strengthen local healthcare systems.
It said over the past decade, India and Africa had made significant strides in expanding access to comprehensive cleft care.
Each region has developed unique areas of excellence, shaped by real-world experience and field-led innovation.
The said the conference provided a platform to exchange proven approaches, adopted best practices, saying that participants develop solutions to strengthen cleft care across both regions.
That was in line with Smile Train’s global goal of ensuring that every child born with a cleft has access to safe, timely and comprehensive care.
The statement said the conference featured expert discussions, knowledge sharing and hands-on workshops on surgical excellence, patient safety, advocacy, and the full continuum of comprehensive cleft care beyond surgery.
It sadi, “The Indo-Africa Synergy represents much more than a conference as over the past decade, both India and Africa have built remarkable expertise through locally led programs by learning from one another as equal partners, sharing knowledge, strengthening skills and co-creating solutions for a better outcome for every child born with a cleft.”
The statement emphasised that the conference reflected Smile Train’s model of strengthening local healthcare systems through continuous training, mentorship and global knowledge exchange.
It recollected that the Smile Train’s programs in Africa began in 2002, and now spanned nearly 40 countries, having transformed the lives of over 200,000 cleft-affected individuals.
In India, the organization has supported more than 800,000 free cleft surgeries since 2000 through a network of over 130 partner hospitals.
Smile Train is an NGO which empowers local medical professionals with the requisite training, funding and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally.
The NGO advances a sustainable and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, improving children’s ability to east, breath, speak and thrive.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Regina Benneh
Email: [email protected].