Facing The World is helping to change the future for Vietnamese children by facilitating operations and supporting surgeons through global training programs, giving children with facial disfigurement a chance to thrive. Since 2008, the charity has run medical missions to Vietnam, where the occurrence of birth defects is by some estimates 10 times higher than in neighbouring countries, thought to b
e partly due to the legacy of Agent Orange. FTW doctors have operated on thousands of children with craniofacial defects and, crucially, provide training for local medical teams through the charity’s Fellowship Program. FTW’s focus is on a sustainable solution - the “teach a man to fish” approach. It started in the UK in 2015 and its network has expanded to include The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in the USA, as well as the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada. Since inception, over 80 Vietnamese medics have been offered fellowships to the UK, Canada and the USA, enabling them to observe and learn new techniques and approaches. The Difficult Airways Society (UK) has introduced its guidelines into Vietnam as a result, and is collaborating intensively with the country. Over the next five years, at least 140 more fellowships are planned to top hospitals internationally. The fellowships are supplemented by in-country training delivered by the charity’s teams during medical missions to Vietnam in which they and the Vietnamese teams operate jointly, putting to use the approaches and techniques learnt through the Fellowship Program. Since 2008, there have been on average two missions to Vietnam per year. Smaller additional missions covering specific surgical topics have recently been trialled with resounding success. Mission numbers will increase over the next five years to between four and six per year. All missions now include teaching conferences to which doctors throughout Vietnam are invited. As well as providing training, FTW works with its Vietnamese partner hospitals to identify game-changing equipment needs, which are then met through donations, thereby increasing efficiency and the numbers of children who can be treated. In the past two years alone, £2 million of medical equipment has been donated, including InTouch telemedicine to Hong Ngoc, Viet-Duc, K (Cancer), and 108 Military Central hospitals as a start to extending national and international linking and treatment capabilities. The medical structure in Vietnam consists of three systems running in parallel: the state system, reporting to the Ministry of Health; the military system, reporting to the Minister of Defense; and the private system, partly regulated by the Ministry of Health but able to make non-medical decisions quickly. FTW has a “hub and spoke” structure, where the private hospital, Hong Ngoc General, is the charity’s partner hub, with 108 Military Central Hospital’s Center for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery and Viet-Duc University Hospital and their networks being the spokes. 108 Military Central and Viet-Duc are among the top hospitals in Vietnam and via their networks of approximately 100 further hospitals and clinics the charity’s reach extends throughout the country, thereby enabling treatment for the poor, primarily children, born with severe facial differences. Through intensive collaborations with Da Nang General Hospital, Viet-Duc University Hospital, 108 Military Central Hospital, and Hong Ngoc General Hospital and their respective networks, the charity is now active within all three medical systems and is able to leverage its approach and expertise through the vast range of hospitals throughout Vietnam. The charity has a Vietnamese patron and long-term financial supporters giving it a sound platform from which to continue to expand its services throughout Vietnam. Official status in Vietnam has been granted through PACCOM registration, and the charity has since signed MOUs with VAVA, the Vietnam Red Cross and Direct Relief. Direct Relief, one of the world’s largest foundations, has earmarked a potential $100 million in donations annually to Vietnam now that direct relationships with Vietnam have been facilitated by FTW. Commended by the UK’s Prime Minister with a Points of Light award in recognition of excellence, FTW also received the Vietnam President’s Medal for Friendship, as well as the medal for “Peace and Friendship among Nations” from the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organization. FTW has been officially endorsed by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vietnam and the Vietnam-UK Network. The charity is run primarily by volunteers who care passionately about the cause. This includes all doctors both nationally and internationally, the CEO (Trustee) and all other professionals. Major corporations and foundations support the unique approach, and have donated generously in terms of services and medical equipment. OUR SHORT TERM VISION: train 140 more doctors and perform 40,000 life-changing operations over 5 years. There will be more!
