Katrin Kandel, CEO of Facing the World. (Photo: VNA)London (VNA) – Vietnam News Agency’s London-based correspondents visited KatrinKandel’s home in London on a warm summer afternoon, which, Katrinsaid, reminded her of the heat of Hanoi summer.
Located in the centreof London, the home of the voluntary CEO of Facing the World (FTW),is decorated with beautiful paintings, some of which are from Vietnam, givingus a feeling of closeness to the homeowner.
Our talk with Katrinrevealed her compassion for Vietnamese children with birth defects and themotivation for her to pursue a journey that has brought about life changes forthousands of unfortunate children in Vietnam.
In 2007, thefoundation first was invited by a US charity to Vietnam where they found a veryhigh rate of birth defects, which is estimated by some experts to bealmost ten times the regional level. Following on from this, Katrin andcolleagues felt very strongly that FTW should develop craniofacial centresin Vietnam given the compelling need across the country.
The visit marked thestart of a long journey in which FTW has accompanied Vietnamese doctors to helpbring smiles and a normal life to thousands of Vietnamese childrenwith craniofacial birth effects.
A UK-registeredmedical charitable foundation set up in 2002 to treat children from developingcountries with craniofacial defects, FTW initially brought Vietnamese childrento the UK for treatment at the foundation’s partner hospitals with costsranging from 50,000 GBP (over 57,000 USD) to 1million GBP per child.However, since 2008, the foundation began sending multidisciplinary teams ofmedics to Vietnam to join local doctors operating on complexsurgical cases.
Since then, thefoundation has developed a unique, clear, sustainable strategy andsolution which will continue to lead to tens of thousands of children,initially in Vietnam and then beyond, receiving the treatment they need foroften horrifically disfiguring birth defects.
Katrin said the key tothis viable and sustainable solution is the “teach a man to fish” approach. FTWawards international training fellowships to Vietnamese medics, having sentmore than 100 doctors to top medical institutions in the UK, Canada, the US andAustralia to observe and learn new techniques and approaches. The doctors areoffered 2-6 week fellowships which are covered by the foundation (approximately11,000 GBP/two-week fellowship).
Katrin said by sendingVietnamese doctors abroad for training, the foundation aims to create anopportunity for the doctors to work and establish relationships with doctorsin centres of excellence throughout the world.
These fellowships aresupplemented by in-country medical missions where complex surgeries are carriedout by coordinated teams of the Vietnamese doctors and the internationaldoctors involved in the fellowship programme. Since 2008, there have been onaverage two missions to Vietnam per year, with all missions now includingteaching conferences to which doctors throughout Vietnam are invited.
The foundation alsoregards telemedicine as an important part of its training strategy.FTW has partnered with a platform technology developed by In Touch Health(now Teladoc’s World Telehealth Foundation) that enables the development of a‘hub-and-spoke’ outreach programme within Vietnam. The platform facilitates atwo-way mentoring, educational system for international partners as well aslonger term domestically. The foundation has collaborated with its Vietnamesepartners to identify game-changing technology needs, which are met throughdonations.
Katrin pointed outthat while the number of doctors can't be multiplied, technology likeTelemedicine can help multiply their expertise. By having theexpertise in the centres in large cities, it means that doctors, nurses andhealth centres from outlying areas are able to access the expertise. Longer term,the foundation expects that the doctors will be able to assess children in allthe outlying areas and determine whether they need to be brought into thecentres or can be given advice remotely on how to treat their problems.
According to Katrin, Vietnamis in a strong position to roll out the approach. To date, 2.4 million GBPworth of telemedicine equipment and technology has been donated to FTW partnercentres in Vietnam. Close to 10 million GBP in other medicalequipment has been donated to the same partner hospitals.
FTW has now partneredwith three hospitals in Vietnam: the private Hong Ngoc General, and two leadingpublic hospitals in Vietnam: 108 Military Central Hospital and Viet-DucUniversity Hospital. Their networks of approximately 100 furtherhospitals and clinics, allows the foundation’s reach to extend throughout thecountry, enabling treatment for the poor, primarily children, born with severefacial differences.
At 108 Hospital, thefoundation opened in late 2018 the Centre for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery,the first of its kind in South East Asia. So far 26 medics from the Centre havetaken part in FTW’s fellowship programme and two telemedicine platformsfrom InTouch Health have been donated to the hospital. After 8 years, theCentre is expected to reach and treat 60% of all children born in Vietnam withsignificant facial differences.
An operation conducted by Vietnamese and British doctors at the 108 Military Central Hospital. (Photo: Facing the World)Katrin said 108 Hospital wasa wonderful example of how the number of children beingoperated on has been measured. Before the centre was established, thehospital was able to run only one mission a year into the outlying areas,but now is running one mission every month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, thecentre was still working, performing operations for children even though FTWmedics and Vietnamese doctors couldn't travel.
In the next 5 years,FTW plans to enable 40,000 operations to be performed by its trained Vietnamesedoctors. The foundation expects to send at least another 200 Vietnamese doctorsabroad for training. Medical equipment which is considered to be gamechanging will continue to be donated.
FTW’s efforts havebeen recognised by the governments from Vietnam and UK. Katrin Kandel wasawarded the Vietnamese President’s Medal for Friendship; the Medal for Peaceand Friendship among Nations; and a Certificate of Merit for significantcontributions to Vietnam's socio-economic development in 2021 by the VietnamUnion of Friendship Organisations. Katrin was also awarded the Pointsof Light Award in recognition of excellence, commended in 2017 bythe then British Prime Minister. The foundation also receivedofficial endorsement by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnamand the Vietnam-UK Network.
Katrin said animportant goal in the longer-term is for Vietnam to be very much partof the surgical expertise at FTW, acting as a craniofacial centre in SoutheastAsia. When the foundation is able to expand into one of the neighbouringcountries like Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is expected to become part of thetraining scheme similar to the UK, Canada, Australia and America. She notedthat with 108 Hospital and Viet Duc hospital being accredited by the RoyalCollege of Surgeons for Accreditation, the hospitals are now seen as having theexpertise for training which is at a level similar to the UK hospitals.
Leaving Katrin’s home,we understood why Katrin is determined to change the destiny of unfortunateVietnamese children as she told us a touching memory about a baby she had met.The baby, perhaps only six months old, had severe defects that made her lookhorrific to any ordinary person other than a doctor. But the baby turned intoan adorable child after an operation performed by FTW medics in collaborationwith Vietnamese doctors. Katrin said it was such a lovely feeling seeing thechange that could make a child who is ostracised become part of society. Shesaid the very lovely children that have horrific birth defects and the lovethat their families have for them have largely encouraged FTW and herself infulfilling the foundation’s mission in Vietnam.
We believe with such agreat motivation, Katrin and FTW will achieve new successes in theirjourney to bring hopes and happiness to unfortunate children in Vietnam and allaround the world and their families as well./.
