Hoan My DaNang is one of the 5 partner hospitals with which HHV collaborates to
make life-saving cardiac surgery available to all children of Vietnam, regardless of their ability to pay. Through our partner hospitals, donors to HHV have saved hundreds of lives. This year, we will save our 500th child! To learn more about our partnership, please see the article below, written by Hoan My DaNang team.
Continuing to write the dream of life for children with congenital heart disease
Twenty years ago, Healing Hearts Vietnam and Hoan My Da Nang Hospital embarked on an extraordinary journey together – a journey to continue the dream of life for children with congenital heart disease and to elevate the quality of local healthcare.
Children with congenital heart disease have to wait because… there are no funds for surgery
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health (2019), each year, approximately 15,000 children in our country are born with congenital heart disease, but only 50% receive timely treatment. The remaining children have to wait, lack the means for treatment, or are not diagnosed. In Da Nang and the Central region of Vietnam in general, many children with congenital heart disease do not have access to timely diagnosis, surgery, or treatment. Contributing to changing this situation, since 2017, Hoan My Da Nang Hospital has been implementing the program “Continuing the Heart's Story” – providing free congenital heart disease screening and check-ups for children in remote areas with limited healthcare access. The program has proven effective, as many children with congenital heart disease have been identified. Some cases were detected at a late stage, requiring immediate surgery, but the high cost of surgery hindered their dream of living. Fortunately, with the support and partnership of Healing Hearts Vietnam, many children have had the chance to live a new life. In 2023 alone, Healing Hearts Vietnam co-funded the surgery costs for 19 children with congenital heart disease, enabling them to undergo timely surgery or interventions at Hoan My Da Nang Hospital. Over the years, in addition to supporting surgical costs, HHV has also participated in congenital heart disease screening activities in local communities and visited and given gifts to children with congenital heart disease after surgery.
Accompanying Local Healthcare
Alongside its activities for children's hearts, Healing Hearts Vietnam has also been a significant partner to Hoan My Da Nang Hospital in enhancing and developing local medical expertise. Over the past 20 years, annually, a team of doctors from Healing Hearts Vietnam and Hoan My Da Nang Hospital has organized sessions to exchange and share professional experiences in examination and treatment. In March 2024, doctors from Healing Hearts Vietnam, along with Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, joined Hoan My Da Nang Hospital in a session to present, discuss, and share experiences on specialized topics and updated practices. These included emergency thyroid cartilage incision techniques, difficult airway management, speech therapy, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement for bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. During this event, the team also donated several medical instruments to support emergency care at Hoan My Da Nang Hospital.
2024 marks nearly 20 years of collaboration and partnership between Hoan My Da Nang Hospital and Healing Hearts Vietnam. The relentless efforts of Hoan My Da Nang Hospital, along with Healing Hearts Vietnam, have significantly contributed to improving the health and quality of life for many children with congenital heart disease in the Central and Central Highlands regions. We hope to continue expanding and strengthening this partnership, while also enhancing support programs, training, and professional development for medical staff, aiming to provide even higher-quality healthcare services to the community.
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