The information was released at a conference on February 19 in Hanoi to review the “For children’s smiles” programme and to plan new surgeries for this year.With the positive engagement of the fund’s chapters in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide, most cleft lipped children received free surgery.
The humanitarian programme, which has been widely lauded, has also received positive support from many international organisations including Operation Smile, ESSO from the US , Vietnam Outreach from Australia and the nation’s International Women’s Club.
According to Hoang Van Tien, Director of the fund, 65 billion VND (2.94 million USD) will be mobilised in 2014 to implement programmes helping at least one million poor children and ensuring their fundamental human rights.
In 2013, the fund raised more than 62.7 billion VND, assisting about 1.5 million children with support for heart, eye and smile treatment and educational fees.
