Prudential Funds Free Cancer Screenings for Poor Vietnam Women

Prudential Vietnam Assurance Private Ltd (Prudential Vietnam) has joined hands with the Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients (SAPP) to provide free cancer screenings for 500 poor women in the city’s Cu Chi District, the company announced in a statement. The program is part of the joint project between Prudential Vietnam and SAPP to carry out free cancer screenings for 1,500 women in Cu Chi, Can Gio and Thu Duc districts and give treatments to 85 most serious cases. To be implemented from now until December, the program costs VND725 million ($32,240). Wilf Blackburn, general director of Prudential Vietnam, said a report of Bach Mai hospital in Hanoi shows Vietnam records 110,000 new cancer patients and 73% of them die annually. Poor people, especially women, do not have a lot of chance to have health checks and therefore, the project of Prudential is hoped to help them prevent the growth of cancer if there is any. In the 2011-2014 period, Prudential Vietnam had cooperated with SAPP to give 5,600 health insurance cards to poor people, conduct free health checks and give free medicine and gifts to 2,000 women in HCMC, as well as fund the operation cost for 15 women who had been found to have serious illnesses after the health checks. (thesaigontimes.vn Sep 3)