Thousands of Vietnamese children living with congenital heart disease,the most common type of birth defect that can lead to death, areawaiting social support to regain control over their lives.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incidence ofcongenital heart disease in the general population is 0.8 percent.
General statistics collected from Vietnamese localities showed thatat the end of 2012, the country has nearly 17,800 children born with aheart anomaly, with more than 5,000 undergoing surgery.
Thousands of new cases are discovered every year while only 2,000-2,500 children receive surgery annually on average.
The figures indicate that it currently takes five to six years to bring healthy hearts to child heart patients.
Of the children with the disease, 38.8 percent are under-six yearsold while 58.8 percent aged between six and 15 belong to poor familiesor those living near the poverty line.
Nguyen Trong An,deputy head of the Child Care and Protection Department under theMinistry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, blamed the highexpense of each surgery - about 40 million VND (1,880 USD), although ithas been known to rise as high as 100 million VND.
Althoughregulations say children under the age of six with health insurance getfree healthcare, the Health Insurance Fund has cover for only 55 percentof the total cost.
Meanwhile, children above six years oldcan hold health insurance cards and receive 80 percent support ofhospital fees, unlisted drugs and expenditures bump up the cost furtherstill, leaving poor families and those living near the poverty lineunable to pay surgical costs for their children.
Heattributed the high cost to the scarcity of qualified surgeons andmedical facilities in Vietnam, adding that according to theinternational standards, each million people needs one surgical centrefor congenital heart disease. It means that Vietnam is thirsty for about80 centres to fulfill the demand of its 90 million people.
However, the country in fact has only 19 heart surgical centresnationwide, he said, adding that not all of them are able to conductsurgeries of diagnosed congenital heart defects.
Over thepast time, many charitable and humanitarian organisations havechannelled support to poor children born with heart failure.
The Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients hasfinanced 70 percent of surgical fees for patients aged between six and16.
Since its inception five years ago, the “Heart for Kids”programme jointly launched by Vietnam Television, the military-runtelecom group, Viettel, and East Meets West have mobilised nearly 90billion VND from 7,000 individuals and organisations to help nearly2,000 children.
Over the past decade, sponsoring funds forVietnamese children from central to grassroots levels have gatheredhundreds of billions of Vietnam dong in support of poor children withcongenital heart disease.
Joining the endeavours, the SunnyKorea, a non-governmental organisation of the Republic of Korea (RoK),will provide 17 million USD fund to heart surgeries designed forVietnamese children in the RoK during the period of 2014-2020 under amemorandum of understanding recently inked by the orgnisation and theVietnam Children Sponsoring Fund.
Notably, the PrimeMinister on October 4 approved a decision on the policy to supportsurgeries of congenital heart anomaly.
Accordingly, almostall children with heart disease who are born to poor families or thoseliving near the poverty line can receive free surgery and support foraccommodation and travelling during the treatment.
With thegreat effort of the whole society, children with congenital heartanomaly are expected to enjoy a normal life like their peers.-VNA
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incidence ofcongenital heart disease in the general population is 0.8 percent.
General statistics collected from Vietnamese localities showed thatat the end of 2012, the country has nearly 17,800 children born with aheart anomaly, with more than 5,000 undergoing surgery.
Thousands of new cases are discovered every year while only 2,000-2,500 children receive surgery annually on average.
The figures indicate that it currently takes five to six years to bring healthy hearts to child heart patients.
Of the children with the disease, 38.8 percent are under-six yearsold while 58.8 percent aged between six and 15 belong to poor familiesor those living near the poverty line.
Nguyen Trong An,deputy head of the Child Care and Protection Department under theMinistry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, blamed the highexpense of each surgery - about 40 million VND (1,880 USD), although ithas been known to rise as high as 100 million VND.
Althoughregulations say children under the age of six with health insurance getfree healthcare, the Health Insurance Fund has cover for only 55 percentof the total cost.
Meanwhile, children above six years oldcan hold health insurance cards and receive 80 percent support ofhospital fees, unlisted drugs and expenditures bump up the cost furtherstill, leaving poor families and those living near the poverty lineunable to pay surgical costs for their children.
Heattributed the high cost to the scarcity of qualified surgeons andmedical facilities in Vietnam, adding that according to theinternational standards, each million people needs one surgical centrefor congenital heart disease. It means that Vietnam is thirsty for about80 centres to fulfill the demand of its 90 million people.
However, the country in fact has only 19 heart surgical centresnationwide, he said, adding that not all of them are able to conductsurgeries of diagnosed congenital heart defects.
Over thepast time, many charitable and humanitarian organisations havechannelled support to poor children born with heart failure.
The Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients hasfinanced 70 percent of surgical fees for patients aged between six and16.
Since its inception five years ago, the “Heart for Kids”programme jointly launched by Vietnam Television, the military-runtelecom group, Viettel, and East Meets West have mobilised nearly 90billion VND from 7,000 individuals and organisations to help nearly2,000 children.
Over the past decade, sponsoring funds forVietnamese children from central to grassroots levels have gatheredhundreds of billions of Vietnam dong in support of poor children withcongenital heart disease.
Joining the endeavours, the SunnyKorea, a non-governmental organisation of the Republic of Korea (RoK),will provide 17 million USD fund to heart surgeries designed forVietnamese children in the RoK during the period of 2014-2020 under amemorandum of understanding recently inked by the orgnisation and theVietnam Children Sponsoring Fund.
Notably, the PrimeMinister on October 4 approved a decision on the policy to supportsurgeries of congenital heart anomaly.
Accordingly, almostall children with heart disease who are born to poor families or thoseliving near the poverty line can receive free surgery and support foraccommodation and travelling during the treatment.
With thegreat effort of the whole society, children with congenital heartanomaly are expected to enjoy a normal life like their peers.-VNA
