Treating Cleft Lip and Palate Through Collaboration, Training and Trust - Brian Sommerlad in Conversation

Do One Better with Alberto Lidji is a podcast exploring philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. This episode, published in December 2025, features Brian Sommerlad, surgeon and Chairman of CLEFT.

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common congenital conditions in the world - yet truly effective care extends far beyond surgery. It requires long-term, multidisciplinary support covering speech and language therapy, hearing, dental development, psychology and ongoing research.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Brian draws on decades of international work - including in Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam and Iraq —-to explore why short-term surgical missions are not enough, and how well-intentioned philanthropy can sometimes do more harm than good. He makes the case for a different model: one built on training local professionals, funding non-surgical roles, and treating local clinicians, hospitals and governments as equal partners.

The episode covers a thoughtful range of topics, including the lifelong impact of cleft conditions on children and families; the importance of capacity-building over one-off interventions; how to allocate philanthropic funding for lasting benefit; and what CLEFT's own twinning approach looks like in practice.

Brian also reflects candidly on his own journey - from medical training in Australia to a career spanning continents - offering honest observations on what has and hasn't worked in global health over time.

This is essential listening for anyone interested in how healthcare philanthropy can move from short-term intervention to genuine, lasting change.

🎧 Listen to the Podcast here

Hosted by Alberto Lidji | Do One Better Podcast | Episode 358 | 28 minutes

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At CLEFT, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who contact us, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
We may change this Policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to [email protected] or by writing to CLEFT, 10a Warren Estate, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3WT. Alternatively, you can telephone 01245 421901.

Who are we?
We are CLEFT, we support cleft lip and palate teams in poorer countries by working with local surgeons and other specialists to help them develop high quality multidisciplinary cleft centres. We do this by visiting and working with them regularly, helping to provide education and training and donating much needed equipment. Our goal is to help local teams so that children born with clefts in these countries will have the same opportunities as those in the UK.

CLEFT also supports research in the UK which will potentially benefit the much greater number of cleft lip and palate patients in countries other than the UK. Our research projects include a pilot project to develop techniques for 3-D MRI scanning of the palate, a study of the muscles of the soft palate to try to improve the quality of the surgery as well as investigating submucous cleft palate development and therapy.

CLEFT is a registered charity (no. 1119630). The registered address is CLEFT, 10a Warren Estate, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3WT.

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PRIVACY POLICY