Cleft Lip Surgery Campaign Ends in Quintana Roo

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — The Second Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Campaign was held from September 10 to 14 at the General Hospital of Playa del Carmen, spearheaded by Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa and the honorary president of the state DIF system, Verónica Lezama Espinosa. The initiative aimed to provide life-changing opportunities for children and adolescents.

During this campaign, reconstructive surgeries were performed on 12 children and adolescents from the municipalities of Isla Mujeres, Lázaro Cárdenas, Bacalar, Playa del Carmen, and Cancún. These surgical interventions are designed to improve the patients' ability to eat and breathe and to support the healthy development of their bodies.

Governor Mara Lezama stated that these measures are part of a government with a humanist and feminist focus, which works daily to ensure the right to health for those who need it most. She also noted that these actions are guided by the principles established in the New Agreement for the Well-being and Development of Quintana Roo, which seeks to elevate the quality of life for all residents.

Throughout the campaign, Governor Lezama expressed her gratitude to the maxillofacial surgeons who traveled from Mexico City and to the three resident doctors from Ecuador who chose to participate in the surgeries without receiving any payment.

Verónica Lezama Espinosa, the honorary president of the Sistema DIF Quintana Roo, emphasized that for the patients, each surgical intervention represents hope and an improvement in their quality of life.

"Each intervention allows for the improvement of respiratory pathways, enables adequate nutrition, and favors the integral development of our girls, boys, and adolescents," she said.

The state government leader also thanked the government team for coordinating efforts through the State Secretariat of Health, DIF Quintana Roo, and IMSS-Bienestar. This coordination provided medical and surgical services, in addition to lodging, materials, supplies, and food for the doctors and the families of the beneficiaries, ensuring dignified conditions at all times.

The initiative was driven by the Sistema DIF Quintana Roo, presided over honorarily by Verónica Lezama, with the support of volunteer maxillofacial doctors, IMSS-Bienestar, and the State Secretariat of Health.