VinaCapital Foundation’s HELP VIETNAM BREATHE – Update and Future Covid-19 Remediation Efforts

November 02, 2021

The HELP VIETNAM BREATHE campaign is the most successful emergency response in VinaCapital Foundation’s history. The campaign over the last 4 months is well-timed since Vietnam has faced the most serious threat to lives and livelihoods since pre-1986. VCF has played a major regional role in pandemic alleviation in Vietnam. The Covid-19/Delta variant Phase 4, began July1and to date has infected 884,177 people and claimed the lives 21,673. Daily cases spiked on August 30 at over 14,000 cases, and it appears that as of October 8- 9 new cases decreased to 3,000- 5,000/day and appear to have stabilized now at 3,000-4,000/day level as of today, October 24. The strict lockdown has ended,and under carefully crafted government guidelines the economy, travel and social life are re-emerging.

Since only 21million people, 21.4% of the population, have had 2 vaccinations, there is a great concern on the part of the medical community that the 6- 8-week historical cycle of reoccurrence will witness large increases in daily cases in late November or early December forcing restrictions back on the country. The worldwide advent of the latest virus mutation, Delta Variant Plus, will increase the chances of reoccurrence. To avoid future slowdowns/lockdowns everyone must do their part to continue to follow the Ministry of Health‘s 5K Plan and the national vaccination program must be accelerated.

VCF partners with both the Fatherland Front and the Youth Union to play crucial roles in the amelioration of many of the complex problem areas above. The first role VCF played was the Help Vietnam Breathe (HVB) campaign in partnership with the Fatherland Front to purchase and deploy over $1million USD of ventilators and one ECMO machine. These 58 pieces of lifesaving breathing equipment were deployed in over 15 hospitals in HCMC, Long An, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong,Quang Nam and Can Tho. One ventilator will save a life a week or more, so it is reasonable to believe that the program has been largely responsible for saving the lives of as many as 700 severely ill Covid-19 patients. Recently VC/VCF received an appreciation plaque from the Chairwoman of the Fatherland Front, Madam To Thi Bich Chau in a HCMC Peoples‘ Committee ‘gratitude‘ ceremony in HCMC. Twenty of VCF‘s 58 ventilators were deployed to Fatherland Front HCMC hospitals– one of those was a $140,000 ECMO machine.

The 58 ventilator/ECMQ machines are a $1,005,348 USD expense and along with other associated Covid-19 response expenses totaling $66,968– mostly PPE that was delivered with the machines to protect the front line healthcare workers, make the total program expenses $1,072,316. With enormous amounts of assistance from so many others, VCF‘s fundraising efforts to date have resulted in cash donations and written pledges totaling $1,013,544. Of that total, the pledges are $99,000 and remain to be collected. Income versus expenses leaves VCF $58,772 short of 100% program coverage. Nearly 800 donors from around the world made this lifesaving program possible– they are heroes! Every donor is important when a program is as large HVB. As always,100% of all donations went directly to the purchase of HVB equipment.

Please click HERE to download the report.