Charity performs landmark 5,000th heart surgery for Vietnamese kid
The VinaCapital Foundation’s Heartbeat Vietnam, a charity meant to help children with cardiovascular diseases, has recently marked its 5,000th surgeries after the program was initiated in 2006.
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Three-year-old girl Trinh Phuc Gia Nhi from the south-central province of Ninh Thuan has become the 5,000th child who underwent heart surgery thanks to the program, the foundation said in a press release.
The surgery was conducted last week under the sponsor of Hearbeat Vietnam and the Cycle for 16 campaign by Scott Kirkham, a British man who cycled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in 16 days to raise fund for children with cardiovascular diseases.
Since 2007, Heartbeat Vietnam has worked with reputable cardiovascular doctors to conduct screenings at remote areas to identify children with congenital heart that has not been diagnosed.
According to Robin King Austin, CEO of VinaCapital Foundation, more than 65,000 children have been screened and more than 8,300 among them have been discovered in need of heart surgeries.
“Our target is to early detect children with congenital heart disease, and take them to treatment before the disease takes away their childhood,” she said.
