A group of 38 medical volunteers came to Vietnam in 1989 to provide care for children affected by cleft conditions. This was the largest group of Americans to enter the country since the end of the U.S.-Vietnam conflict in 1975, and it marked the start of Operation Smile’s programs in Vietnam.
Operation Smile Vietnam has provided clinical care for around 60,000 patients.
OUR FORMULA FOR TRANSFORMATION
Operation Smile’s formula for transformational impact combines care delivery & capacity-building.
Education programs are at the center of Operation Smile’s strategy to increase access to surgery closer to the patient’s home.
Each surgical program brings together providers from all over the world for a unique opportunity to share knowledge and innovate. This type of bi-directional learning is essential to redistributing knowledge between providers and building capacity in the areas of greatest need.
Our work in health infrastructure & equipment addresses structural barriers to care and helps build robust health systems. Operation Smile’s research & innovation efforts inform all aspects of our decision-making and allow us to have a comprehensive understanding of the impact our programs have on patients.
HUB & SPOKES
To ensure that every child has access to care close to home, we equip the providers within our patients’ communities with skills and resources to deliver high quality care. We build the needed capacity by harnessing the talent and resources that exist within the country, usually in the bigger cities, the hubs, to train providers in under-resourced areas, the spokes, where most patients lack access to care.
In Vietnam, our hubs are located in Ho Chi Minh City at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology and in Hanoi at the Vietnam Cuba Friendship Hospital.
Operation Smile has a spoke in Ho Chi Minh City at My Thien Hospital.
We have partnerships with hospitals that host short-term surgical programs in Son La, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Dak Lak and An Giang.
We have established partnerships with institutions that provide oral health services in Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Dak Lak and Hanoi.
In Fiscal Year July 2024-June 2025, Operation Smile will invest $1.14 million to provide surgical care for 2,300 patients and train 700 health workers.
Cleft Care Programs
Over the course of the following year, Operation Smile will deliver surgery to 2,300 patients. We will expand comprehensive cleft care in Vietnam by providing consultations in speech therapy for 600 patients and oral health for 10,000 patients.
Education
Operation Smile will deliver training for 700 medical providers, which will increase access to cleft care across the country. Operation Smile will train specialists in the fields of surgery, anesthesia, pediatrics, nursing, speech therapy, oral health and others. We will provide training in Life Support through the American Heart Association. In partnership with ZimVie, Operation Smile will host its third annual dental symposium for university dental students. The symposium will feature the latest techniques and topics in advanced dentistry, along with providing oral surgery and implant clinical programs for 50-100 patients. Every month, students from our Student Programs initiative will take part in surgical programs, supporting medical records personnel and other non-medical staff.
FIVE-YEAR VISION
Over the next five years, Operation Smile will address barriers to seeking and reaching cleft care in Vietnam.
We aim to provide surgical care for around 12,000 patients and deliver comprehensive care services to 24,000 patients.
We will work to expand our system of hubs and spokes, building local capacity across the country.
To improve health policies and health governance in Vietnam, we will work together with the Ministry of Health to develop new national guidelines on emergency resuscitation.
