Smile Train wins a Silver at the 57th Anvil Awards for the First-Ever Filipino Mobile Speech Application

In the Philippines, where over 5,000 babies are born each year with a cleft lip or palate, accessibility to cleft-related treatments like speech therapy is critical. This was particularly true at the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak, when ensuring that patients could continue their speech therapy appointments was a top priority.

Smile Train, the world’s foremost cleft-focused nonprofit, endeavored to bring its speech therapy programs directly to patients by launching the country’s first Filipino speech therapy mobile application, demonstrating its dedication to continue promoting comprehensive cleft care. More individuals born with a cleft can keep receiving complete cleft care using their smartphones thanks to the platform. (The Smile Train Filipino mobile speech program is free and available on both the Apple and Google Play Stores; for more information, go to https://smiletrainspeechapp.com/.)

The impact of this innovative application as well as Smile Train’s telehealth services were recognized at the 57^th Anvil Awards, winning the Silver Award.

“As Smile Train strives to create a brighter future for Filipinos born with a cleft, we are grateful to receive this recognition for the second time as this is a testament of our organization’s efforts to bring uninterrupted care and convenient access to patients amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Vice President, Smile Train South East Asia.

Since the programs were launched in 2020, Smile Train’s speech telehealth and therapy programs in the Philippines have treated over 300 patients, providing them with more than 2,000 cleft care-related sessions—including speech therapy, nutritional support, breastfeeding guidance for mothers of babies with clefts, pre-surgical consultations, and psychosocial care. From 2020 to 2021, Smile Train and its 26 partners supported a total of 2,125 sessions for over 223 individuals for speech services alone. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, patients still have access to Smile Train’s services and are still able to schedule surgeries in partner hospitals.

“Smile Train has always been committed to exploring various avenues and utilizing technology to provide comprehensive cleft care to reach more patients and communities in the country,” shared Flaviano. “All these programs built on the earlier successes of Smile Train’s efforts at the onset of the pandemic, notably Speech Camp 2020, which is a series of virtual therapy classes and discussions conducted by speech language pathologists and medical professionals.”

Visit smiletrain.org to learn more about Smile Train’s global initiatives and to donate. Visit smiletrain.ph/get-help to learn more about Smile Train’s local programs in the Philippines and to refer a patient in need. Smile Train Philippines can be found on Instagram as @SmileTrainPh    and on Facebook as @SmileTrainPhilippines.