Facing the World offers free surgeries for disfigured children

(VNF) - Hong Ngoc General Hospital is coordinating with a team of doctors from UK-based charity Facing the World to perform free surgeries for Vietnam’s poor children with facial disfigurements from May 5^th to 13^th.

The hospital’s annual charity activity helps to open a new chapter for Vietnamese children who were born with physical deformities.

The team of doctors provided medical check-ups and identified the profiles of candidate patients at Hong Ngoc Hospital. Surgery will be arranged for children whose health conditions meet the necessary requirements. After surgery, they will receive optimal postoperative recovery from Hong Ngoc Hospital for between one and two months for each case.

Leading doctors who are in charge of the program included Niall Kirkpatrick; Simon Eccles; and Nguyen Nguyet Nha.

Doctors provide medical check-ups for disadvantaged children with birth defects. (Source: VOV)

Doctor Niall Kirkpatrick is a consultant plastic surgeon and head of the Craniofacial Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. As Medical Director for the Facing the World charity, he has travelled to more than 20 countries around the world, bringing smiles to countless children with facial disfigurements.

Simon Eccles is a Secretary and Surgeon with Facing the World. He has extensive experience as a craniofacial surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for many years. He is a past president of the plastic surgery section of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Doctor Nguyen Nguyet Nha is the former deputy head of the Facial Plastic Surgery Department of Hanoi Central Pediatrics Hospital. She formerly studied and worked at Changgung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan and at Paris VI University.

She has been working with many foreign medical teams, such as a U.S. group under the “Operation Smile” program and a Dutch Interplast group, to provide humanitarian surgery for disadvantaged patients with jaw defects in eight northern provinces and cities.

As a leading private hospital in the north which operates to international standards, Hong Ngoc Hospital desires to bring high quality healthcare services to people and join hands with the community to build a happy society.

In this aim, the hospital arranges annual collaborations with world leading charity organisations such as Facing the World from the UK and R.I.C.E from the U.S. to perform free surgeries for disadvantaged children with birth defects.

Through the program, the hospital hopes to set up a specialised channel to receive information about disfigured children with financial difficulties and work with benefactors to generate a wave of donations from across the country.

Raising funds for disfigured children

Since its establishment in 2002, Facing the World has provided treatment for a large number of children with facial disfigurements in 20 countries around the world.

Throughout its ten years of operation in Vietnam, the organisation has coordinated with various Vietnamese hospitals to provide charity surgeries for thousands of vulnerable Vietnamese children.

Over the past two years, thanks to the organisation’s support, more than 40 Vietnamese doctors have come to UK for training. At least 75 doctors are expected to join the fellowship in the next five years. At the same time, medical equipment with over GBP one billion (USD 1.35 billion) of value has been given to Vietnamese hospitals. The charity will be donating In Touch Telemedicine capability to both Hong Ngoc and Viet Duc Hospitals as initial start to expanding communication and international linking on the teaching capability.

Facing The World has subsequently signed MOUs with the Vietnam Red Cross and Direct Relief, one of the world’s largest humanitarian foundations. Especially, Facing The World is complimented by the UK’s Prime Minister with a Points of Light award in recognition of excellence, and by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam.

Vice President in-charge cum General Secretary of VUFO, Don Tuan Phong, presents certificate of merit to Katrin Kandel, Executive Director of Facing the World on May 6^th. (Photo: vietnamplus)

Ealier, on May 6^th, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) presented a certificate of merit to Katrin Kandel, Executive Director of Facing the World, in recognition of the contributions that she and her organisation have made to Vietnam over the past decade.

Also at the function, the organisation signed a cooperation agreement with Pan Pacific Hanoi Hotel to start a one-year partnership marked by an appreciation concert to advocate children with facial disfigurements.

During the next year, Pan Pacific Hanoi will partner with Facing The World to promote and raise funds for these life-changing surgeries. Accordingly, Pan Pacific Hanoi will have charity envelopes put in guest rooms and charity boxes installed at strategic points in the hotel to encourage guests’ donation of unused local currency. In addition, the hotel’s revenue from kid’s menu will be partly given to Facing The World’s fund./.

VNF