BENGALURU: On the eve of World Smile Day, wellness brand The Himalaya Drug Company rolled out its flagship social impact initiative, Muskaan, to spread awareness about cleft lip and palate conditions. In partnership with Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft lipand palate charity, the initiative will support free life-saving cleft treatment to children in need.

Through the EkNayi Muskaancampaign, Himalaya Lip Care will focus on educating people about cleft lip and the availability of corrective treatments at the grassroots level. The awareness drive kickstarted with a heart-warming video capturing the inspirational story of eight-year-old Munmun. The film portrays how Munmun’s life was transformed with safe cleft surgery.

As part of the initiative, a multimedia awareness campaign has started reaching out to people across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Smile Train India’s toll-free Cleft Helpline, 1800-103-8301, is available for people to enquire about cleft and avail free cleft treatment.

This year’s campaign featured Arjuna awardee and Commonwealth gold medallist Geeta Phogat, who extended her support to the initiative. 

“As a wrestler, I have faced multiple challenges throughout my journey, but never let go of my dreams. Every child has a dream, and the ability to achieve the dream should not be limited by a medical condition like cleft. I am extremely happy to be associated with Muskaan, which has been helping children lead a healthy, happy, and fulfilling life. Such initiatives show how a simple surgery can transform the life of children and help them discover a better future,” said Phogat.

Every year in India, more than 35,000 babies are born with a cleft. This can greatly impact their ability to thrive, as having an untreated cleft can cause difficulties in eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking.Smile Train VP and regional director Asia Mamta Carroll said it is imperative to generate awareness around cleft and the importance of early medical intervention.

“There is a lack of awareness that cleft can often be treated with a safe surgery. With enhanced safety guidelines to protect both patients and health workers, our partner hospitals across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are now slowly resuming cleft surgeries and we are supporting free treatment for cleft patients,” Carroll elaborated.

Rajesh Krishnamurthy, business director of consumer products divisionat The Himalaya Drug Company believes that the social awareness campaign is true to the brand’s spirit of spreading happiness through wellness and changing lives for the better.

“EkNayi Muskaan is very close to our hearts. Through our partnership with Smile Train India, we have brought smiles to a lot of families across India in the past five years by facilitating free cleft surgeries for their children. Our endeavour is to continue transforming the lives of many more children living with cleft and help them achieve their dreams,” he said. 

Himalaya Lip Care has been consistently spearheading cleft care awareness and making efforts to bring many more smiles to children across the country through Muskaan. In addition to creating awareness, Rs 3 is contributed towards Muskaan with the sale of every Himalaya Lip Care product.