Humanitarian surgery programme provides free artificial hip and knee joints for poorer patients

Doctors are conducting screening examinations for poorer patients with hip and knee diseases at the 108 Military Central Hospital. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Operation Walk Ireland will provide free knee and hip replacement surgeries for about 70 poor patients at the 108 Military Central Hospital.

The patients are in extremely difficult circumstances with hip and knee diseases and with indications for joint replacement.

This year, Operation Walk Ireland sent a delegation of nearly 100 experts and medical staff in joint surgery, in coordination with doctors and medical experts of the 108 Military Central Hospital, to perform hip and knee surgery and provide post-operative recovery treatment for patients.

Many poor patients have knee and hip diseases that affect mobility, but do not receive surgery because of the high cost of treatment. Therefore, when participating in the programme, patients will receive free of charge the entire cost of artificial joint replacement surgery, each worth about VNĐ50 million (US$2,000). After surgery, all patients are trained to restore the motor function of their limbs and return to normal work and daily activities.

Doctors team of Operation Walk Ireland and 108 Military Central Hospital performed hip surgery on patients during the 2023 humanitarian surgery programme. — Photo the Central Military Hospital 108

The humanitarian programme was under the framework of a cooperation programme between the 108 Military Central Hospital and the Operation Walk Organisation since 2008, helping patients restore the motor function of their limbs in order to resume normal activities.

The annual programme aims to continuously improve the hospital’s quality of examination, treatment and patient care in general and surgery for patients with knee and hip replacement indications.

It also helps strengthen the exchange and learning of experiences with Irish surgeons in the fields of joint replacement surgery, anaesthesia and resuscitation, intensive care, comprehensive care as well as rehabilitation for patients with knee and hip replacement.

Operation Walk is a humanitarian organisation specialising in joint replacement surgery, established in 1996 in the United States. After nearly 30 years of operation, the organisation has operated on thousands of patients worldwide.

In Việt Nam, Operation Walk has worked with many medical facilities, such as the 108 Military Central Hospital and the Military Hospital 175, to provide humanitarian activities since 2008. Up to now, the 108 Military Central Hospital has coordinated with the Operation Walk organisations of the United States and Ireland to perform humanitarian surgery to replace hip and joint joints for about 1,000 patients in Việt Nam. — VNS