Maxillofacial Surgery

Craniofacial tumors, cleft lip and cleft palate, and ear-nose-throat diseases are life-threatening conditions for children and adults throughout Africa.

An uncorrected cleft palate makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a baby to nurse or drink from a bottle. Even benign facial tumors can grow to such large and distorted sizes that the capacity for an adult to function as a normal member of the community is impossible. Left untreated, tumors can grow to the point of being life-threatening as a person struggles to breathe or eat, and render the victim a social outcast.

In Africa, where there is little or no access to healthcare services and specialized surgeries needed to deal with these maladies, Mercy Ships works to fill the void.

Our surgical teams identify the patients we can help and then begin the process of transforming lives with free life-altering, lifesaving surgeries.