The Problem

According to WHO, Health is referred to as the “… complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

 

Communication is a quality of life issue and is part of the health component in the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) which was published in 2001.

 

In 2007, the WHO took this one step further by publishing the ICF for children and youth, (ICF-CY).  In describing the aspirations of functional health for persons from birth to 17 years, the WHO embraces the common goal of an individual child’s rights to live life to its full potential.  Incorporated in this ideal is the aspiration to help fulfill the basic human need as social beings, which is to communicate with one another.

 

The ability to communicate, the process of being able to understand and to be understood is often denied to people born in developing countries such as Vietnam.  This is because they are born with or acquire through injury or illness, problems in communication or swallowing.

Eleven months old girl after lip repair by Australian Plastic Surgeon, Dr David Ross from Melbourne, in Ho Chi Minh City, as part of Project Boomerang Cleft Care Team

 

Photo: Dr A Sahu-Khan