BBGV E-newsletter June 2018 - Week 2

The Medical Assistance Programme (aka MAP) is designed by to both directly support children with health problems as well as to indirectly alleviate the financial hardships of their families.

The income earners in beneficiary families [usually the parents] are typically employed in low-income jobs working as contract laborers in agriculture, fishing or factories. The daily wage for a laborer often ranges from VND 70,000 (approximately $3 US) to VND 180,000 (approximately $8 US). However, the availability of work is unstable and seasonal. In the dry season, and only if both of parents have full-time jobs for 20 days, they can expect a total monthly family income, which would range from VND 2,800,000 ($126 US) to VND 7,200,000 ($324 US) at most. During the rainy season, there are only 10 working days at most, so their income would drop significantly to between VND 1,400,000 ($63 US) and VND 3,000,000 ($162 US).

This becomes even more dire, when one considers that the average family has two, three or more children. These people generally live in rural areas or very small villages and in very remote areas. The typical family lives in a tiny thatched house with poor sanitary conditions. Children from these families often drop out of school at a very early age to seek employment in order to help supplement the family income. Thus if a child falls sick, it becomes an incredible financial hardship on the family as it can be both a loss of income from the child and a parent, as one parent usually must stop working to care for the child.

In 2017, the Medical Assistance Programme receives USD 800 (VND 18,000,000) monthly from the BBGV. This amount is able to support on average the treatment costs, for 1-3 children per month. Below are 2 success stories of the MAP.
1/ Thanh’s success story:

Thanh is nearly 6 years old, the first and only son of a poor young couple who live in Lam Dong Province.

Thanh’s parents are farmers on their own 3,000m2 burnt-over farmland, used for growing coffee plants. Because of the weak soil, every year they earn a profit of under 90USD. From August to October yearly when it rains a lot both of them try to earn money by means of finding and selling bamboo shoots.

The family lives in a tiny 22.5m2 house with a tin roof, tin walls and the bare earth for a floor. Their water source is from an open well and their only electric appliances are some light bulbs. Last year Thanh’s parents had to borrow VND 5,000,000 from their relatives to buy fertilizers for the coffee farmland and to take Thanh to Ho Chi Minh City to receive eye treatment, they have just borrowed a further VND 10,000,000 [USD 441] more from their relatives without interest.

Thanh’s eye condition: one and a half years ago, a small clot of blood appeared in his left eye. After being examined at Gia Bac Commune Medical Station and prescribed eye drops to take, the blood clot vanished. A month later however, another condition appeared – a white spot on the eye which gradually increased in size and caused Thanh’s eyesight to decline. After being transferred to Di Linh District Hospital and Bao Loc City Hospital, finally Thanh was checked out at HCMC Eye Hospital (EH) on 7 March 2018, and hospitalized a week later with a diagnosis of Cataract – Left Eye. After a successful operation, Thanh was discharged in a state of good health, his entire sight-saving treatment cost VND 6,724,467 [USD 297] and was covered by BBGV who enabled this little boy’s sight to be saved.

Thanh’s left eye’s vision is getting better and we are really excited to see the next follow-up with him this month.

2/ Duong’s success story:

7-month-old baby boy Duong is the youngest and only son of a family of 4 children from Dong Nai Province. 17 days after his birth, Duong rejected being breastfed. Two days later, his mother decided to take him to a private clinic for a check-up and they referred him to Children’s Hospital No. 2 (CH2). On the way to the hospital, his skin turned pale and his breathing became irregular so he was driven to Dong Nai General Hospital where he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease. Duong showed no signs of improvement so he was transferred to Children’s Hospital 2 where he was diagnosed with Ventricular Septal Defect – Atrial Septal Defect – Aortic Stenosis, the baby was admitted to the hospital and has been treated since then.

Duong’s family is currently living in a small 70m2 deteriorated house built 15 years ago with the entire financial support from his uncles and aunts. They have basic access to electricity but depend on water pumped from an underground well for water. His sisters are in grade 9, grade 7, and grade 2 – their whole tuition fees of VND 2,800,000 [USD 124] for this school year. The father has worked as a guard at a kindergarten since 1998 with a monthly salary of VND 3,600,000 [USD 159]. However, he has stopped working temporarily for several months to help the mother care for the child at hospital. The mother has been a teacher at a primary school since 2000 with a monthly salary of VND 6,500,000 [USD 287].

When the baby was hospitalized at CH2, their relatives gave the family VND 10,000,000 [USD 441] – this amount was soon used up to buy nappies for him. Duong has the National Health Insurance for children under the age of six but this covers only medical items listed by the Health Insurance. At hospital, his parents looked after him and counted on daily charity meals.

For Duong’s first hospitalization his mother used her maternity allowance to cover his treatment costs of approximately VND 20,000,000 [USD 883] (after Health Insurance). For Duong’s second hospitalization, his total treatment cost (after Health Insurance) VND 27,864,011 [USD 1,230]. BBGV supported him with VND 7,000,000 [USD 309], and the remaining cost was supported by other donors/visitors to the hospital.

The mother happily informed the CNCF Team that Duong has completely overcome his heart diseases, he is taking medications daily to strengthen his cardiac muscles and has now gained more than 2 kilograms. Duong’s mother sent sincere thanks to CNCF and the donors who timely supported the child with his treatment costs.

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