Operation Smile, based in Virginia Beach, is celebrating a major milestone as it’s the only non-governmental organization selected by the Vietnam Ministry of Health (MoH) to help create Safe Surgical Standards to increase equitable access to safe, effective and timely surgical care within Vietnam. On April 2, the Vietnam MoH hosted a Conference on Patient Safety and Safe Surgery Standards in Vietnam joined by Operation Smile Co-Founders Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee among other participants implementing new guidelines for the Safe Surgical Standards.
The achievement of collaboration between the Medical Services Administration of Vietnam MoH and Operation Smile comes after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2014 with a goal to increase access to quality standards for safe surgery in Vietnam. The adoption of Safe Surgical Standards will have a potential to impact 3 million surgeries annually throughout Vietnam.
Representatives from Operation Smile, the Vietnam Ministry of Health, the Medical Services Administration and affiliated global health partners at the Conference on Patient Safety and Safe Surgery Standards in Vietnam
Left to right: Associate Professor Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of Medical Services Administration Department of Vietnam Ministry of Health; Kathy Magee, Co-Founder and President, Operation Smile; Dr. Bill Magee, Co-Founder and CEO, Operation Smile; and Professor Dr. Nguyen Viet Tien, Vice Minister of Vietnam Ministry of Health
Marking the milestone in Vietnam, Dr. Magee remarked, “This collaboration with the Ministry of Health has built an incredible bond of trust, and we’re honored that the Ministry invited Operation Smile to join in creating a model to provide safe, effective and timely surgical care to improve the health and dignity of its people that, in time, can be replicated in other countries around the world.”