Help for cleft children in Bangladesh

International partner network

From an initial ~300 surgeries per year, we have steadily expanded our support for children with cleft lip and/or palate in Bangladesh. Today, our eight surgical teams perform around 2,000 surgeries annually. Given the high surgery numbers, our medium-term goal is to provide our patients with access to follow-on treatments beyond surgery. Drawing on experience from neighboring India, in 2023 we launched a project to develop a speech-therapy model.

In 2018, we began a partnership with the Australian aid organization Operation Cleft Australia (OCA), which provides part of the necessary funding and is involved in the project’s ongoing development. Local administration is handled by the Bangladeshi organization Syed Nuruddin Ahmed Development Foundation (SNADF).

Eight local surgeons at work

Under the “Cleft Bangladesh” umbrella, eight local surgeons and their teams are active across the country. Long-standing partners of Deutsche Cleft Kinderhilfe are Dr. Mohammad Quamruzzaman (known as Dr. Zaman) and Dr. Al Masum Ziaul Haque. Dr. Sayeed Ahmed Siddiky and Dr. Abhi Kimar Chakraborty joined the team in 2018 through the cooperation with Operation Cleft Australia. We were able to recruit Dr. Mohammad Mazharul Haque (known as Dr. Imran) to our mission in 2022. Surgeon Dr. Masfiquer Rahman and surgeon Dr. Shantona Rani were trained by our senior surgeons and are now permanent members of the Cleft Bangladesh team with their own projects. Since April 2025: Dr. Avijit Sarker (no photo).