Operation Smile Vietnam will extend their free surgery program to An Giang province from April 8-12 to offer life-changing surgeries to children suffering from cleft lips and cleft palates in the Mekong Delta region.

According to the Tuoi Tre daily, the operations will be carried out at the general hospital in Long Xuyen Town.

It is expected that around 100 patients will benefit from the latest programme in An Giang. Over 200 Vietnamese children have been treated in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City by Operation Smile this year.

As a non-profit healthcare organisation, Operation Smile has provided care and treatment for over 20,000 children in Vietnam over the last 24 years. In 2012, 2,244 patients benefited from the organisation’s work.

In Vietnam, approximately one in every 500 babies is born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate, and many needy children have never received surgery, which is actually fairly inexpensive.-VNA