London (VNA) - A uniquemedical mission focusing on craniofacial trauma surgery for children will go toVietnam from the UK to work with three major hospitals in Hanoi from November16-30.

The mission is part of an annualeducation exchange programme between the two countries funded by Facing theWorld (FTW), a UK-registered medical charitable foundation set up in 2002to treat children from developing countries with craniofacial defects.

Led by Professor Mike Perry, a consultantoral and maxillofacial surgeon at the Northwick Park Hospital in London, themission is the first of its kind to utilise complete integration of a foreigndoctor with Vietnamese doctors to facilitate training and multidiscipline teambuilding and surgical approaches. Professor Mike Perry is a listed Top 50 UKsurgeon and is an expert in the field of craniofacial trauma and complex deformitiesfollowing.

During this mission, Professor Perrywill lead a team of Vietnamese doctors and anaesthetists who have been workingwith him over the years through FTW sponsored fellowships to conduct complexsurgeries for children with craniofacial trauma and post traumatic deformities.

The operations will be carried out atViet Duc, 108 Central Military and Hong Ngoc hospitals which are FTW’s partnersin Vietnam. Prior to the surgeries, Professor Perry will join local doctors inconducting assessments and creating treatment plans for potential patients whocome from across Vietnam.

Professor Perry is also expected toconduct a series of lectures on acute facial trauma management at the threehospitals, which can be attended online by Vietnamese doctors nationwide.

During this mission, FTW will alsodiscuss with its partners a programme to help Vietnamese cancer patients.

Voluntary CEO of FTW, KatrinKandel, said the mission is the second this year following the multidisciplinarymission in April. It is the 33rd mission since FTW first sent internationalmedics to Vietnam to join local doctors in operating complex surgical cases in2008.

Katrin stressed that creating teams oftrained Vietnamese doctors and anaesthetists to take charge of patientconsultation and operations domestically, like the one led by Professor Perryon this mission, is key to FTW programme, which is the hub-and-spoke approachwhere expertise is built up in the correct locations with all patientsthroughout Vietnam being able to access.

The CEO of the foundation said theapproach aims to create viable and sustainable solutions to the needs andcreate sustainable expertise in Vietnam, which, FTW expects, inthe longer-term will become part of the surgical expertise training schemeat FTW, acting as a craniofacial centre in Southeast Asia.

FTW started operations in Vietnam in2007 after a Vietnam visit by the foundation found a high rate of birthdefects and the need for establishing craniofacial centres in Vietnam.

The foundation’s key activities coversending international medics to Vietnam to operate complex surgical cases;sending Vietnamese doctors abroad to learn new techniques and approaches ofcraniofacial surgery and treatment; and providing medical equipment,particularly telemedicine equipment and technology.

To date, FTW has helped providesurgeries for thousands of children with craniofacial defects across Vietnamand sent nearly 150 Vietnamese doctors to top medical institutions in the UK,Canada, the US and Australia for training. The foundation has also donated 2.4 millionGBP worth of telemedicine technology and surgical equipment to its partnerhospitals in Vietnam.

In the next five years, FTW plans toenable a further 40,000 operations to be performed by its trained Vietnamesedoctors. The foundation expects to send at least another 200 Vietnamese doctorsabroad for training and continue to donate medical equipment which isconsidered to be game changing./.