Demographics of cleft care providers in Africa and reported experience in training and practice: Direct analysis of continent-based practitioners

Objective: To elucidate the impact of several geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic variables on cleft care delivery in Africa, and to investigate the current status of cleft care delivery in Africa. Design: Survey of practitioners attending the second Pan-African Congress on Cleft Lip and Palate (PACCLIP). Setting: The annual PACCLIP conference in Ibadan, Nigeria, West Africa, February 2007. Main Outcome Measure: To provide an analysis of the demographics and training experience of cleft care providers in Africa by collating information directly from the continent-based practitioners. Results: Plastic surgeons and oral and maxillofacial surgeons provide the majority of cleft care. Most of the participants reported availability of formal training programs in their respective countries. The predominant practice settings were university and government-based. During training, half of the providers had encountered up to 30 cleft cases, and a quarter had managed more than 100 cases. Representation of visiting surgeons were equally distributed between African and non-African countries. Conclusions: This study provides initial and detailed analysis crucial to understanding the underlying framework of cleft care composition teams, demographics of providers, and training and practice experience. This awareness will further enable North American and other non-African plastic surgeons to effectively partner with African cleft care providers to have a further reaching impact in the region.