Cleft patients in Dumaguete have received assistance from Operation Smile Philippines (OSP) and employees of Smart Communications Inc.
During the medical mission conducted by Operation Smile at Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital to treat cleft patients for free, sales and engineering employees of Smart helped in gathering patient information by using the OSP patient mapper app.
Around 900 beneficiaries have been treated, while more than 600 patients have been encoded in the mapper app this year.
“Developed through the initiative of Smart, the OSP mapper app enables the user to securely store patient data, which is used by Operation Smile to generate a heat map of patients and efficiently plan succeeding missions. The app is available as a free download for Android and iOS devices,” said Smart Sales Manager Art Lamayo, Jr.
Volunteering for a worthy cause is part of being a Smart employee, said Lamayo.
“It’s good to be able to help other people, especially children,” Lamayo said, adding that it is also a good opportunity to get to know subscribers better. “It’s also connected to our work since some of the patients are also our subscribers,” he added.
Lamayo likewise expressed appreciation for the app and encouraged other people to help Operation Smile get more patients by volunteering and using the program.
“Volunteers may use it. For instance, if they’re at a mall and spot someone with cleft, they can encode the patient information immediately and let the patient know how Operation Smile can help them,” he said.
Engr. Anthony Sherwin CalCal, senior wireless access and transport engineer at technical operations center, also lauded the app for its offline capabilities.
“It’s a powerful tool because it can be used even if there’s no internet,” he said, adding that the app is useful for patients in areas with limited connectivity.
Since the organization’s launch in 1982, more than 31,000 lives have been changed by Operation Smile in the Philippines.
With its 35th anniversary campaign #UntilWeHeal, Operation Smile hopes to eradicate the backlog of cleft incidents in the Philippines. Smart, for its part, seeks to advance healthcare by collaborating with institutions and enhancing programs using technology. (jct/PIA7-Negros Oriental)