The Rural Outreach Clinics that bring hope to little hearts

At 8-month-old, Hung Phat only weighs a mere 3,8kg*. He is the first among 25 children with congenital heart defects detected by VinaCapital Foundation’s (VCF) Rural Outreach Clinics in Soc Trang province in July 2023.

(*According to the World Health Organization, the normal weight for an 8-month-old boy is 8,6kg)

Hung Phat lives under the care of his grandparents while his father is away for work. Seeing the little boy struggle to gain weight and turn pale so often, his grandparents did their best to scrape together enough money to take him for medical examinations in Ho Chi Minh City. However, hearing that the little boy needs to undergo surgery to cure his complicated congenital heart defect, they are left devastated.

“The hospital says he needs 4 to 5 surgeries. Seeing my grandchild suffer is heartbreaking, but we simply don’t have the funds,” Hung Phat’s grandmother shared while tears streamed down her face. 

His grandfather’s meager income from catching snails and fish only covers daily expenses and heart medication to keep Hung Phat alive. Without timely surgery, the baby only has 2 or 3 years left to live. Upon learning about the free heart screening program for underprivileged children in Soc Trang, Hung Phat’s grandmother took him there for a checkup to save on medical expenses. During what seemed like a routine exam with a predictable despairing diagnosis, his grandmother was moved to tears when she was guided to apply for Hung Phat’s surgery sponsorship through the Heartbeat Vietnam program. The application is now being processed, and we hope that Hung Phat’s upcoming journey to receive life-saving heart surgery will go smoothly so that he can soon enjoy a healthy childhood.

Since its inception, our Rural Outreach Clinics program has reached 48 provinces and cities, providing free heart screenings to over 333,000 underprivileged children and detecting heart defects in more than 11,000 of them. For many disadvantaged families who cannot afford medical care like Hung Phat’s, these mobile clinics have become a ray of hope. Witnessing the positive impact on thousands of children’s lives has motivated VinaCapital Foundation to expand the Rural Outreach Clinics and Heartbeat Vietnam programs to every province and city in the country. Join hands with us in this journey and open up a brighter future for disadvantaged children by visiting: https://vinacapitalfoundation.org/en/donate