A child with cleft lip is examined (Illustrative photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese and US doctors are joining in a humanitarian orthopedic surgery programme in Hanoi with a view to assisting less privileged children with deformities.
The programme is being carried out by one Vietnamese and four US doctors from March 5 to 19 at the Hong Ngoc General Hospital.
Doctors will give check-ups to and design treatment plans for children with head, hand, arm and chest deformities or cleft lip and palate. Eligible patients will receive surgeries.
On the Vietnamese side, Dr. Nguyen Nguyet Nha, a former deputy head of the craniofacial department of the Vietnam National Hospital of Paediatrics, is in charge of the programme.
The doctor has worked with many foreign physicians in similar orthopedic surgery programmes in Vietnam such as Operation Smile, the Netherlands’ Interplast, and the Republic of Korea’s Globe Care.
There are about 1.3 million children with deformities in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Child Care and Protection.
Non-governmental organisations, along with domestic and foreign experts have carried out a number of free surgery programmes targeting children with cleft lip and palate, which are the most common deformities in the country.-VNA
