A doctor checks a child at a medical centre in Quảng Nam Province. More than 3,000 children in the province received heart disease examinations in a heath check programme in three districts of Bắc Trà My, Núi Thành and Quế Sơn. — Photo courtesy Hoàn Mỹ-Đà Nẵng Hospital

QUẢNG NAM — More than 3,000 children in the central provincial districts of Bắc Trà My, Núi Thành and Quế Sơn were provided with free examinations for congenital heart disease last week.

Doctors from Đà Nẵng-Hoàn Mỹ Hospital said 16 children were diagnosed with congenital heart disease from the programme, and they have been provided with free heart surgeries with funding from VinaCapital Foundation and AOG World Relief.

It said the screening programme, which was organised by VinaCapital Foundation and the provincial Fund for Children Protection from June 8-13, offered medical checks for children under 18.

Earlier, 5,400 children in the central highlands province of Kon Tum received examinations on May 17-23, in which 31 cases were found with congenital heart disease.

In 2019, more than 50,000 children and teenagers in nine provinces in central Việt Nam received free heart screening following the hospital’s under-18 programme.

Doctors said 400 children, who were diagnosed with congenital heart disease from the examination, underwent successful surgeries in 2019 with funding from donors and local children protection funds.

Last year, a donation of 30 pieces of medical equipment and facilities worth more than VNĐ1 billion (US$43,000) was raised by VinaCapital Foundation and Hoiana integrated resort project for local patients and premature babies at Duy Xuyên and Thăng Bình districts in Quảng Nam Province.

VinaCapital Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded in 2006, has funded 7,000 life-saving heart operations for disadvantaged children with congenital heart defects in Việt Nam after 12 years of operation, while offering free heart screenings and funds for nearly 1,000 children diagnosed with congenital heart defects per year.

VinaCapital Foundation’s critical response programme, opened in 2009, focuses on improving paediatric care and reducing mortality among children aged under five. — VNS