Vinamilk accompanies the program "Echoes from the heart"

Attending the ceremony were Dr. Nguyen Sinh Hien - Deputy Director of Hanoi Heart Hospital; Mr. Brian Tran - Founder of MD1World; Ms. Bui Thi Huong - CEO of Vinamilk; Venerable, Dr. Thich Nhat Tu - Founder of Today's Buddhism Fund; doctors and nurses of Hanoi Heart Hospital and families of children who received heart surgery support in 2018.

Representatives of Hanoi Heart Hospital, MD1World organization and two sponsors talk with reporters and the patient's family at the signing ceremony. Photo: PV

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, every year around the world there are about 17.5 million deaths due to cardiovascular diseases and the number of cardiovascular patients is increasing.

In a conference of the Ministry of Health in July 2018, it was reported that cardiovascular disease is the most common non-communicable disease in Vietnam, causing 30% of deaths nationwide. Cardiovascular disease has been and is a burden on society with the highest mortality and disability rates among all diseases. In addition, the cost of care and treatment of cardiovascular disease is also a significant burden on patients' families and society, with hundreds of billions of USD each year.

Dr. Nguyen Sinh Hien - Deputy Director of Hanoi Heart Hospital spoke at the program. Photo: PV

That is why, MD1WORLD organization -is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 in the United States with the goal of connecting pediatric heart health organizations -With the second return to Vietnam, MD1World has cooperated with Hanoi Heart Hospital to establish a 5-year project with the goal of turning Hanoi Heart Hospital into a "Regional Center" in Vietnam with the goal of improving the quality of services for pediatric patients with congenital heart disease at Hanoi Heart Hospital through medical exchange programs between the Hospital and MD1World.

Through medical exchange programs under the project, in addition to supporting heart surgery for pediatric patients, doctors of Hanoi Heart Hospital will exchange knowledge and learn experiences to improve their qualifications from leading American cardiologists. The first activity of the program is the support of heart surgery and cardiac catheterization for 14 cases of children with congenital heart disease, which took place in October 2018.

Leaders of Hanoi Heart Hospital signed a cooperation agreement with MD1World organization.Photo: PV

Previously, MD1WORLD and Hanoi Heart Hospital have had a long history of cooperation: doctors from the two units have consulted directly and online on many complicated cases before performing surgery; in 2015, Hanoi Heart Hospital cooperated with MD1WORLD to perform heart surgery for children in difficult circumstances and organized training to improve knowledge and skills in the field of cardiology. Based on those experiences and achievements, in the near future, with the support and cooperation with MD1WORLD, it will contribute to helping Hanoi Heart Hospital on the path of development, becoming a prestigious cardiovascular center in the country and in the region.

The program “Echoes from the Heart” is a meaningful and practical program for cardiovascular patients, their families and society. The program was born not only to help children have surgery and closely monitor their post-operative health, but also to train and improve medical knowledge for the team of doctors and nurses in the field of cardiovascular medicine.

Venerable, Dr. Thich Nhat Tu - founder of Buddhism Today Foundation shared in the program. Photo: PV

Because of the noble meaning of the program, Vinamilk and the Today's Buddhism Fund have decided to accompany the program through specific financial support. Vinamilk will support 7 heart surgeries in 2018 - equivalent to 700 million VND and the Today's Buddhism Fund will support nearly 500 million VND for related medical and medicine expenses.

It is known that, in addition to production and business, Vinamilk has always focused on implementing social responsibility programs over the years, typically supporting the Ho Chi Minh City Association for the Support of Poor Patients since 1995 with a total amount of more than 5 billion VND and has performed 190 free heart surgeries and 1,000 eye surgeries for patients in difficult circumstances. The Vietnam Rising Milk Fund program has donated 33 million glasses of milk with a total value equivalent to nearly 140 billion VND to nearly 420,000 disadvantaged children in Vietnam over the past 10 years.

Dr. Wyman Lai - Medical Director of MD1World organization said.Photo: PV

Buddhism Today Fund was founded by Venerable, Doctor Thich Nhat Tu in 2013 with the mission of operating in the fields of: charity; scholarships; printing of Buddhist scriptures; building schools, bridges and roads; medical support to share love and the light of Buddhism to the unfortunate. Buddhism Today Fund has been operating non-stop throughout the past time across the country, helping to perform hundreds of cataract surgeries each year, giving gifts to social protection centers, nursing homes, youth centers, cancer patients and victims of natural disasters...…

Ms. Bui Thi Huong - Vinamilk CEO presents gifts to the families of children treated this year. Photo: PV

At this signing ceremony, Vinamilk and the Buddhism Today Fund hope that accompanying MD1WORLD and Hanoi Heart Hospital will contribute to supporting the difficulties that pediatric cardiovascular patients are experiencing, and at the same time contribute to calling on society to join hands to support patients, contributing to reducing social burden through the project model of developing the capacity of doctors in the field of cardiology that MD1WORLD is coordinating with Hanoi Heart Hospital./.