The funding will be used to provide free surgery packages for about 300 children with facial defects from Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Bac Kan, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Hanoi, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam. The operations will be carried out in Hanoi this year.
This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the organisation’s presence in Vietnam. Since 1989, with co-operation and support from its partners and stakeholders, Operation Smile Vietnam has brought back smiles to more than 33,000 Vietnamese children and adolescents with oral and maxillofacial deformities.
Greg Smith, President and Country Manager of ExxonMobil Vietnam, said that in its community initiatives, the company always gave priority to programmes that benefit pediatric healthcare. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil contributed US$125,000 to the VinaCapital Foundation’s programme to provide four infant ventilators to hospitals in central Vietnam.
According to statistics, one in 700 children in Vietnam is born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. In addition to enduring physical defects and difficulties in daily activities, there is a great mental pain for such children. With only 45 minutes of surgery, at a cost of around VND5 million (US$235), the children will have the opportunity to restore their facial deformities.
