Help2Smile has undertaken medical missions to two countries. Starting in 2010 (under the Care4tina banner), we have been active in China for 10 years and in 2024 we undertook our first mission to Vietnam.

Vietnam

Vietnam is about 8 times larger than the Netherlands. The Netherlands has an area of about 41,500 square kilometers, while Vietnam has an area of about 331,200 square kilometers. According to the latest estimates, Vietnam has a population of about 98.7 million (in 2021).

The incidence of lip and/or palate cleft in Vietnam is relatively high, with an estimated 1 in 500 live births affected by this condition. For Vietnam, that means over 3,000 children per year. This means that there are many children and adults in Vietnam suffering from a form of schisis who need proper medical care to improve their quality of life.

The specialized care for schisis of lip and/or palate is complex so not every hospital has a doctor who can offer this specialized care. In Vietnam, this specialized care is present only in major cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In large parts of the country, access to this care is limited. In rural areas, the expertise is not present.

This means that parents must travel to another city to get the opportunity to have their child treated. For the main town of Thừa Thiên Huế province, in central Vietnam, called Huế, this means parents must travel to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. From Huế, the trip to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City takes at least 12 hours. The means to travel to these cities for surgery are lacking for many parents.

This is why medical missions to Vietnam are so important. Help2Smile has made arrangements to work with the Hue University Of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital. By May 2024, we will have treated about 50 to 60 children with a form of schisis.

Help2Smile not only operates children but also trains local doctors to be able to perform lip and palate surgeries themselves. In our vision, this is the sustainable way of providing help. This is expected to make it possible in the future to have treatment in Huế without parents having to travel far.

China

The former Care4tina team has been active in China for 10 years. Not everywhere in China there was sufficient knowledge, skills, facilities and resources to help children with schisis in a timely manner. Especially for foundlings and children of poor parents, the insurance system until recently did not provide reimbursement for schisis surgeries. Also, treatment methods were not always optimal.

Therefore, in 2010, for the first time, we started providing free help in the form of free cleft palate surgeries at a large children's hospital in Xian, China. Not only did we start performing operations free of charge, but at the same time we trained a team of Chinese doctors to perform the operations independently.