OPERATION SMILE MEDICAL MISSION TO BAO LOC, VIETNAM, TAKING PLACE FROM MAY 31 – JUNE 8, 2007

An Operation Smile medical team will conduct an international medical mission in Bao Loc, Vietnam, from May 31 – June 8, 2007 to assist children born with facial deformities.  The medical team consists of more than 50 medical and non-medical volunteers from Italy, New Zealand, the United States and Vietnam.  Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is a worldwide children’s medical charity dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.

Who: Operation Smile International Mission Team comprised of 35-40 credentialed medical professionals including spokespersons:
        Dr. Lam Hoai Phuong, plastic surgeon and Operation Smile Vietnam Medical Advisor
        Viet Nguyen, Operation Smile Director of Programs for Asia
        Dr. Robert Russell, plastic surgeon from Springfield, Illinois
        Charlotte Ducote, PhD, speech pathologist from New Orleans, Louisiana
        Dusty Clegg, nurse and clinical coordinator from Bountiful, Utah
  
When: May 31-June 8, 2007 
  
Where:  LAM DONG HOSPITAL No. 2 
              Bao Loc, Vietnam

 Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, will join the medical team from June 3-6, 2007 when the first surgeries are scheduled to take place.  Cindy McCain has been involved with Operation Smile since 2001, taking part in medical missions to Vietnam, Morocco and India.  She is currently a member of Operation Smile’s Board of Directors.  
During the mission, four Vietnamese volunteers will complete a biomedical training program conducted by two Operation Smile biomedical technician volunteers from the United States.  The program will train the volunteers techniques in setting up, testing and maintaining the state-of-the-art equipment that Operation Smile is supplying each of its partner countries.  This is a major step toward reaching Operation Smile’s goal of having at least one person trained in biomedical technology in each of its partner countries.

This is the first international medical mission to Bao Loc, Vietnam.  Since 1989, Operation Smile has treated more than 19,000 children in Vietnam through international medical missions, in-country local missions and dental missions. In addition, Operation Smile Vietnam has been providing medical care and training to neighboring Laos.  Additional international mission sites in Vietnam include:  Bac Thai, Can Tho, Da Nang, Haiphong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue City, Ninh Thuan, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Tra Vinh, and Vung Tau.  During Operation Smile’s World Journey of Smiles in November 2007, medical missions will take place in Vietnam in the cities of Hue, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, as well as in Vientaine, Laos.

On March 30, 2007, Operation Smile Vietnam inaugurated a new Comprehensive Care Center in Hue, Vietnam, in conjunction with Hue Odonto-Stomatological Hospital of Thua Thien Hue.  This center is one of seven new centers to be opened this year in Operation Smile partner countries across the globe as part of the organization’s worldwide anniversary celebration.  The Operation Smile Comprehensive Care Center in Hue, Vietnam, is based in the Hue Odonto-Stomatological Hospital, and will treat children year-round who suffer from cleft lips and cleft palates, as well as provide education and training to medical professionals in the region.  Approved and supported by Thua Thien Hue People's Committee and Health Service Department, the Center is expected to provide free treatment for at least 2,000 patients and train about 1,000 medical professionals in different fields annually.    
Vietnam is one of the partner countries participating during Operation Smile’s 25th anniversary year.  Operation Smile will commemorate its 25th Anniversary with a year-long, multi-faceted series of initiatives to include the following:

• Global Standards of Care – The Global Standards of Care include a rigorous credentialing process and a standardization of medical supplies and equipment that will be based on the model of care that Operation Smile has perfected in 25 years of performing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries.  State-of-the-art equipment valued at $3.6 million will be provided to partner countries to ensure that every patient treated by Operation Smile will benefit from the same sophisticated equipment, procedures, and highly trained and credentialed medical staff, no matter where they receive care around the world. Additionally, Operation Smile is providing emergency supplies in accordance with American Heart Association guidelines for pediatric and advanced cardiac life support.
• Comprehensive Care Centers – Following openings in Vietnam and Colombia, Operation Smile will open additional Comprehensive Care Centers in Honduras, Morocco, China, India and the Philippines.  Each Center will provide surgical treatment and post-operative follow-up for thousands of additional patients, especially those in remote areas.  The Centers will also help train medical volunteers, strengthen local development and fundraising activities and provide on-going administrative support for in-country activities.
• International Forums on Medical Diplomacy – As part of its ongoing effort to create a global humanitarian network to bring healing to the world’s children, Operation Smile will host international forums on medical diplomacy. 
• World Journey of Smiles – The year-long anniversary celebration will culminate in November 2007, with the World Journey of Smiles, more than 40 simultaneous missions in 25 countries. With a goal of treating an estimated 5,000 children living with facial deformities, World Journey of Smiles will take place from November 8-16, 2007.  To prepare for that initiative, plastic surgeons and anesthesiologists from 22 of those countries recently met at Operation Smile’s world headquarters in Norfolk, Va., to set global standards of care.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.  Since its founding, Operation Smile has treated more than 100,000 children with facial deformities and provided education and training to physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world.  In addition to contributing free medical treatment for children born with facial deformities, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its 25 partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.  Partners include: Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gaza Strip/West Bank, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.  Operation Smile has been distinguished by many prestigious awards, including the first $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to recognize outstanding contributions made to alleviate human suffering.