GSF recently published an article showing our impact on the wellbeing & livelihood of our patients in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. These findings are an update to our original research presented in Clinical and Economic Impact of Global Smile Foundation’s Surgical Program (Kantar et al., 2020).

The new research is summarized in Global Smile Foundation’s Cleft Surgical Outreach Program: Clinical and Economic Impact During the Past 14 Years (Younan et al., 2023). The author team analyzed the DALY and associated economic gain from primary cleft lip/palate surgeries provided by GSF since 2009. The conclusions are an impressive testament to the power of cleft care.

Primary cleft surgeries provided by GSF have averted 15,310 DALY for patients and improved their quality of life. We estimate that these surgeries empowered our patients with an economic gain of $78.3 million-$152.9 million, or $48,021-$93,750 per patient.

Thank you to our author team for your hard work.