OPERATION SMILE MEDICAL MISSION TO TAKE PLACE IN HUE, VIETNAM FROM JUNE 5 – JUNE 15, 2008

An Operation Smile Medical Mission team will arrive in Hue, Vietnam, for an international medical mission taking place June 5-June 15, 2008 to assist children born with facial deformities.  The team consists of 45 medical and non-medical volunteers from Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Philippines, Russia and the United States who will be working side-by-side with local Vietnamese medical volunteers.  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:    An Operation Smile International Mission Team comprised of volunteers from eight countries to include:
Dr. Lam Hoai Phuong, plastic surgeon and Operation Smile Vietnam Medical Director
Andrea Standish, CCLS, Certified Child Life Specialist from Texas

When:  June 5-15 2008

Where: The Operation Smile Comprehensive Care Center in the Hue Odonto-Stomatological Hospital, Hue, Vietnam

This will be Operation Smile’s second international medical mission conducted in the Operation Smile Comprehensive Care Center in Hue.  Since 1989, Operation Smile medical volunteers have treated more than 19,000 Vietnamese children and young adults through international medical missions, in-country local missions, and dental missions.

The last medical missions in Vietnam took place in March 2008 when the 12th annual Dental Mission was conducted by more than 30 medical and non-medical volunteers in Hanoi and Hue.  In total, the two teams conducted 4,808 free dental examinations and 2,905 free dental procedures for children and young adults.

     
About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.  Since its founding, Operation Smile volunteers have treated more than 115,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its 26 partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency. 

Media Notes:  To receive images or additional information, or to request an interview with an Operation Smile spokesperson, please contact Lisa Jones at ljones@operationsmile.org or
757-321-3252.