Smile Train to host Indo-Africa Cleft Conference in India

Smile Train will convene more than 50 cleft care professionals from 18 African countries at the Indo-Africa Cleft Conference in Goa, India, from July 20 to 23, 2026, in a bid to strengthen collaboration and improve access to cleft care across the two regions.

The conference, themed "Synergy 2026: Excelling Together," will bring together surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, speech therapists, orthodontists, nutritionists, researchers and healthcare leaders from Africa and India to share expertise on the treatment and long-term management of cleft lip and palate.

According to Smile Train, the meeting will focus on improving multidisciplinary care, expanding training and mentorship, advancing research and promoting practical approaches to delivering comprehensive cleft care in low-resource settings.

Smile Train Vice-President and Regional Director for Africa, Nkeiruka Obi, said Africa and India face similar challenges in providing cleft care, making collaboration between the two regions critical to improving access to treatment.

"India and Africa have near similar experiences and challenges in addressing clefts. By fostering stronger partnerships between Africa and India, the Indo-Africa Cleft Conference reinforces a shared vision of ensuring that every person born with a cleft has access to safe and high-quality surgery, comprehensive treatment, and lifelong care regardless of where they live," she said.

Smile Train's Senior Vice-President and Regional Director for Asia, Mamta Carroll, said the conference programme is designed to provide participants with practical knowledge that can be adapted to local healthcare systems.

"The conference's robust program will allow participants to gain practical insights into implementing and adapting comprehensive cleft care models while addressing common challenges faced across low-resource settings," she said.

The conference builds on the inaugural Indo-Africa Cleft Conference held in Nairobi in 2012 and seeks to strengthen long-term partnerships between healthcare providers in the two regions through continued knowledge sharing and documentation of successful care models.

A cleft is a gap in the upper lip and/or palate that develops before birth. According to Smile Train, a child is born with a cleft somewhere in the world every three minutes. The organization says it has supported more than two million free cleft surgeries in over 75 countries by training and supporting local medical professionals.