Project Vietnam Foundation

SMILES FOR HOPE: Smiles for Hope is PVNF’s surgical outreach program which aims to bring hope to children with cleft lip and palate deformities by providing free surgery. OUR MISSION: Project Vietnam Foundation is a nonprofit humanitarian organization working to create sustainable pediatric healthcare in Vietnam through training for health personnel, while providing health assistance to impoverished rural areas across the country. It may also offer programs benefiting our volunteers and Vietnamese-American communities in the U.S. OUR STORY: Founded in 1996 as an International program of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) California Chapter 4 (Orange County), the project became its own foundation in 2007 to expand its work in Vietnam. PVNF is non-profit organization which has a permit with the government of Vietnam to deliver healthcare assistance as direct services and training activities. Our mission is to serve needy children and families in remote areas, train health personnel and promote improved sustainable guidelines to benefit patient care. OUR IMPACT: To date, PVNF has worked in 35 of the 64 provinces for medical missions and 54 provinces for training health personnel. We have provided over 1,770 surgeries to children with deformities and eye defects, and over 81,100 children and adults have been treated. We have training programs that have affected millions-the newborn policies became national affecting 1.5 million newborn lives annually. The first national policy was adopted in 2004, after a successful pilot program to deliver vitamin K after birth, preventing each year deaths or permanent disabilities. The Newborn Resuscitation Program has established 14 national training centers, trained 250 instructors, and 6,500 health personnel. 85% of provinces have been recipients, and the remaining 10 are targeted for the next several years to achieve total coverage with the “Helping Babies Breathe” program of the American Academy of Pediatrics.