A child is checked up for cleft palate operation (Illustrative photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC), on June 10,presented gifts to children, who are treated for maxillofacial defects at theVietnam – Cuba Friendship Hospital in Hanoi.
Atotal of 150 gifts worth 500,000 VND (21.4 USD) each, sponsored by theOperation Smile Vietnam, were presented to young patients with cleft palate andjaw cyst.
Theactivity responded to the ongoing National Action Month for Children 2019,themed “joining hands for poor and ethnic children”.
OperationSmile Vietnam is part of a global alliance of Operation Smile Foundations andResource Chapters dedicated to providing free treatment to children and adultssuffering from cleft palate.
OperationSmile’s first medical mission to Vietnam took place in 1989. Two years later, avolunteer network of Vietnamese medical professionals established OperationSmile Vietnam.
TheNFVC launched its Operation Smile programme in 1994 to provide free cleftpalate surgeries for children. Since 1997, the programme has also aidedadolescents and adults.
In2018, the fund provided check-ups for over 3,100 patients and operations, withmore than 2,000 having operations at a cost of over 15 billion VND.
To date, close to 30,000 children with cleft palate have received freesurgeries at a total cost of nearly 70 billion VND (2.9 million USD).
TheNFVC has also mobilised resources to provide post-surgery assistance for theyoung patients, thus helping them practice pronunciation and integrate into thecommunity.-VNA
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