Meet Our Patient Representatives: Olga Kudamanova

🤩 As part of Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month, we would like to introduce you to Olga Kudamanova, one of the ERN CRANIO patient representatives. 🤩

“My name is Olga and I represent ECO European Cleft Organisation 

Cleft lip and palate is a congenital condition when the sides of the roof of the mouth and /or lip do not fuse together as they should during pregnancy. While the condition can be treated successfully, it requires comprehensive approach with many different specialists (surgeons, nurses, speech therapist, orthodontist etc) working together in a coordinated manner. The availability of different elements of the treatment varies widely across Europe and ECO works with local cleft teams and patient representatives to reduce those discrepancies. 

Being an ePAG in ERN CRANIO allows me on the one hand to present the side of individuals born with a cleft and their families from different countries of Europe - their needs and opinions - to the clinicians. But it also helps me stay updated on the evidence-based approaches in cleft care and initiatives that are being worked on by the medical professionals within the network to be able to apply this information in ECO’s efforts to improve accessibility and quality of treatment for cleft affected individuals. I also greatly appreciate the opportunity to work together with my colleagues from other patient organisations across Europe, share ideas, learn from each other and motivate each other.” 

Find out more about ECO: https://europeancleft.org/