For a child in rural Ecuador or Vietnam born with a cleft palate, specialized surgery may simply not exist within reach. Families without money often have no realistic path to treatment of any kind. Dr. Andrew Jacono has spent years trying to close that gap.
The New York facial plastic surgeon has provided operations to more than 750 children across developing regions. Dr. Andrew Jacono leads around two surgical missions each year, often bringing fellow surgeons and occasionally members of his family.
Partners and Destinations
Three organizations anchor this work Healing the Children, the HUGS (Help Us Give Smiles) Foundation, and THAI Children. With their help, his teams have operated in Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries where reconstructive care is scarce.
The range of conditions is broad. Teams repair cleft lip and palate and correct microtia, an ear deformity. They also remove facial tumors and treat scarring from burns.
Why These Operations Matter
Function comes first for many patients. Some deformities interfere with eating or breathing, and surgery can fix those problems directly.
Social barriers are just as real. In many communities where these children live, a visible facial difference carries heavy stigma. A cleft lip alone can keep a child from attending school or joining community activities. Correcting it can change the course of a young life.
Funding such trips requires effort beyond the operating room. Dr. Andrew Jacono has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and Mount Elbrus in Russia as part of fundraising campaigns. The climbs help pay for mission logistics while raising awareness.
Back home, he keeps a Park Avenue practice and teaches as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Yet the overseas missions remain central to how Dr. Andrew Jacono defines his work: the same surgical hands, offered to children who would otherwise grow up with untreated deformities. Refer to this article for related information.
Find more information about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://goodmenproject.com/everyday-life-2/dr-andrew-jacono-on-the-rising-demand-of-male-facelifts/