Operation Smile expanded its reach to Mozambique in 2014. After the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975, the Mozambique government established a health care system that was cited by the World Health Organization as a model for other developing countries.
In 2014, Operation Smile conducted two surgical missions in Mozambique: the first took place on board the Italian Navy’s aircraft carrier Cavour, and the second took place in Beira. That year, Operation Smile provided free surgical care to more than 100 patients in Mozambique with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial conditions.
After four years of inactivity, Operation Smile resumed activity in Mozambique in 2018