July marks National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month. Cleft and craniofacial conditions affect thousands of people in the US each year and many more throughout the world. Cleft and craniofacial conditions can include congenital anomalies, such as cleft lip or palate, life-threatening craniofacial conditions, burns, injuries, and oral/head/neck and skin diseases such as cancer.
We recommend several resources that support people with facial differences and provide information, education, and other services.
- American Cleft Palate – Craniofacial Association, which is an international non-profit society of health care professionals who treat and/or perform research on birth defects of the head and face;
- Apert International, which provides education and information to the general public about Apert Syndrome;
- the Cleft Palate Foundation (CPF), which helps enhance the quality of life for people affected by cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial birth defects;
- and Faces: The National Craniofacial Association which serves children and adults throughout the US with severe craniofacial deformities resulting from birth defects, injuries, and disease.
To learn more about these and other resources, please visit the National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month (NCCAPM), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
