MACS Clinic has reminded the world that cosmetic surgery serves a much bigger purpose than just achieving an aesthetic goal, with its recent collaboration with the Help Smile Trust charity.

Mr Shailesh Vadodaria and members of his team headed to Global Hospital Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India, last month to operate on a number of patients who were in need of help.

They joined doctors from Mumbai, including Dr Santish Bhatia, Dr Ashish Magdum, Dr Vinay Jacob, and Dr Jaiswal, as well as Mount Abu’s Dr Sharad Mehta to perform on 18 patients who had cleft lip or palate deformities, post-traumatic injuries, or vascular malformations.

In addition to this, Dr Jacob and Dr Magdum gave lectures to the hospital staff to provide them with more information on how to set up a microvascular reconstruction service for those with head and neck cancer.

As well as the time, knowledge and experience offered by the specialists, the trip would not have been possible without the surgical instruments for the cleft lip and palate operations provided by Help Smile Trust.

The charity was set up in 2010 by Dr Bela Vadodaria, as well as Mr Vadodaria, Mrs Mohini Subhedar and Mr Rajeev Subhedar.

Together, they established the Cleft project, which provides care to cleft lip and palate patients in hospitals around the world. It also offers education training to local doctors and nurses, as well as gives the patients long-term follow-up care.

In addition to this, the Help Smile Trust aims to provide financial support to charities that are already established to help people who need cosmetic surgery for medical reasons in their area. This means the charity can extend its reach all over the world, giving much-needed monetary assistance to the support that is already available.

The charity itself has launched a number of events over the years to increase awareness of the requirement for cosmetic facial surgery in parts of the world where there is no state-provided healthcare.

They also raise money to fund medical equipment and trips to hospitals around the globe.

One of the biggest fundraising events was the Kilimanjaro climb in 2018, which saw four trustees of the Help Smile Trust scale the tallest freestanding mountain in Africa to raise money for the cause.

As well as sponsoring members of the team to take part in these impressive feats, the Help Smile Trust encourages visitors to its website to make a donation so it can continue to provide care to people in need.

Although cosmetic surgery can sometimes be regarded as a vanity treatment, particularly in developed countries, this trip serves as a reminder of its importance.

For instance, the surgery to repair a cleft palate or lip is so valuable, as it enables a child to be able to feed properly, develop their speech, smile, and reduce their chances of frequent ear infections.

Without this, a baby might not be able to feed, and therefore, would struggle to survive.