The parents of two children from Palau yesterday expressed their gratitude to the people of Taiwan for paying for cranio-facial operations to repair their childrens' cleft palates.
A cleft lip and palate occur when a baby is born with an opening in the roof of their mouth (palate) and the upper lip does not fully form.
"We are very grateful that our baby has been able to benefit from the surgery and to do so for free, because we could never have afforded it," said Mrs. Ngedebuu, the mother of 18-month-old Delson Ngedebuu, one of the children.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), this was the first time the government has provided free medical treatment to foreign nationals. It did so after receiving a request from the government of Palau, an archipelago nation of some 18,000 people and over 200 islands in the the western central Pacific Ocean.
"Though Taiwan was excluded from this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), we [Taiwan] are willing to give medical assistance when we can to foreign friends in need," Shia Ji-chang (夏季昌), section chief of MOFA's Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, told the Taipei Times.
Taiwan's bid for observer status in the WHA, the highest decision-making body of the WHO, suffered a setback early this week in Geneva, as Taiwan's plea was not put on the meeting's agenda.
Ngedebuu gave her thanks while speaking to reporters as her family and that of the other child, two-year-old Reign Kazuyuki, attended an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eugene Chien (
The minister personally congratulated the families and thanked the Chang Kung Memorial Hospital for successfully carrying out the operations.
"By providing such help to other nations, we are reaching out to the international community and showing the world that the people of Taiwan are mature and responsible citizens of the global community," Chien said.
According to the MOFA, upon receiving the letter from the Palau government in January requesting Taiwan's help in treating the children, the ministry contacted major hospitals seeking volunteer assistance from medical institutions to conduct the operation.
The Palauan government told the ministry that the two children were from poor families and "in serious need of treatment."
Taiwan was approached not only because it has sent doctors to help in Palau's hospitals before, but also because no hospitals in Palau have expertise in cranio-facial surgery.
The Chang Kung Memorial Hospital was the first to respond and conducted the two operations on May 8.
Cleft lip and palate occurs in one of every 500 to 1,000 babies. It is one of the most common birth defects.
Doctors and scientists know how cleft palates form, but they do not have a complete explanation for why clefts occur, or what causes them.
A combination of the child's inherited traits and the environment within the mother's womb during pregnancy is thought to be the most likely cause of clefting in infants. In some way, the growth and development of the face are disrupted, resulting in a cleft.
Asked whether the operations signaled that Taiwan would provide free medical treatment to all foreign nationals who came begging, Shia told the Taipei Times that requests would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the patient's financial circumstances and whether his or her country could provide the treatment.
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