Overview
Rural Outreach Clinic Program (ROC) is a mobile clinic program that provides free medical examinations for children who have limited or no access to health services in rural underserved communities of Vietnam since 2007. Since the clinics are already scheduled, VCF takes the opportunity to check for adult hypertension and diabetes.ROC transports teams of Vietnam’s top cardiologists and surgeons to remote areas to examine poor children who do not have access to healthcare locally and cannot afford to travel. ROC doctors focus on the diagnosis of Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) and provide a treatment plan if a child has CHD. They are placed on VCF’s national cardiac surgery priority list to receive free heart surgery. The clinics increase early detection of heart defects in children, and that dramatically increases the prospects for children to enjoy a longer healthier life.
Many sick Vietnamese children suffer from undiagnosed congenital heart defects. Most often elderly people have never had their blood pressure checked or been screened for diabetes. They live in rural provinces where two-thirds of the population live and often healthcare is not accessible. It takes hours traveling long distances through rough terrain in order to access major hospitals in Ho Chi Minh, Hue, Da Nang or Hanoi for diagnosis, examination, and treatment. Families are too poor to travel by plane, so they must walk or travel by bus, motorbike, or boat, and this can worsen their condition and their children’s poor health. Incomes are low and missing available work is not available, hence heart problems or any medical condition worsens and these impediments often result in death.
“Leave no child behind” is our slogan. Without ROCs, rural underprivileged children will never find the opportunity for their heart-healing surgeries. Eighty-five percent of these children with heart defects will die before their 18th birthday without assistance. ROC is one of the essential resources for Heartbeat Vietnam to fulfill its mission and vision to provide sustainable improvement to develop future generations in Vietnam.
Our Achievements since inception
From Inception to December 2022, Rural Outreach Clinics have:
- 296959 children screened
- 49 provinces reached
- 10737 children found with congenital heart defects
- 8715 children required surgery and received immediate medical support
- 80 clinics organized every year
How does the program operate?
ROC Program works with government partners in targeted impoverished provinces/districts to find the most suitable site to set up clinics to ensure optimum coverage of the whole district. Local authorities are also responsible for announcing clinic dates and sites to local communities to ensure all children come for medical examinations. After each clinic, the information and results will also be announced on VCF’s social media channels. Often other diseases are detected by ROC doctors and all medical issues are referred and followed up on by local healthcare workers.
In order to provide the best health care service to the people in need, VCF partners with major heart hospitals of the country who have top cardiologists and surgeons. The hospitals join clinics in their geographic region to save operation costs and provide a favorable opportunity for the families to bring their children to the closest hospital for follow-up.
Screening children in the time of COVID-19
In rural Vietnam, access to quality healthcare is poor. VCF’s ROCs are a beam of hope for mothers of sick underprivileged children.
Become a part of our clinics or help us organize one to reach and provide quality healthcare services to underserved communities!
