Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on September 6 visited child patients who are being treated at the Vietnam – Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi.

Accompanied by Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien and representatives from the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, the legislator also delivered gifts to the patients on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a major event for Vietnamese children.

Ngan expresses her hope that more children will receive free heart surgeries under the programme “Trai Tim Cho Em” (A heart for you) launched by National Fund for Vietnamese Children in 2010 with the co-operation of Vietnam-Germany Hospital.

Under the programme, the hospital has conducted an average more than 100 surgeries each year for children with congenital heart diseases every year.

In addition, doctors at the hospital regularly go on trips to remote and poor areas to screen children from disadvantaged background for congenital heart diseases. Between 6,000-7,000 children have received the check-ups each year.-VNA