Comprehensive cleft care centers: Scalable, sustainable, and cost effective surgical care

Cleft surgery is the largest and most sustained humanitarian global surgical effort to date, with roots in outreach by humanitarian cleft care organizations to low-resource settings, traveling missionary and military surgeons who have provided care to local patients, and local teams who have developed cleft programs. International cleft mission trips have traditionally proven successful in providing surgical treatment of cleft in areas where treatment was previously unavailable, helping to overcome the misconception that surgery is too difficult and costly in resource-poor regions [1]. Despite these successes, cleft lip and cleft palate remain a stark example of the global burden of surgical disease, with millions of untreated - or inadequately treated - patients worldwide. The need for a new paradigm in global surgery has been increasingly recognized by governments, funding agencies, and professionals in order to exponentially expand care, while emphasizing safety and quality.