About 30 children with physical disabilities in the northern province of Nam Dinh have been provided with free corrective surgery under a programme launched by the Australian charity organisation Hands For Hope.

A local orthopaedic surgeon carried out surgeries in the southern province of Bac Lieu last week and is scheduled to continue in central Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces later this month. Around 100 children will benefit from the programme nationwide this year, said Nhan Nguyen, the organisation's co-founder.

Hands For Hope was established by a group of young Vietnamese-Australians in 2000 with the goal of providing direct assistance to underprivileged children in Vietnam.-VNA