Support TB Elimination on Tam Hai Island, Viet Nam

We here at FIT want to extend a huge thank you to each and every one of our donors for making our 14-day screening campaign on Tam Hai Island possible. Whether you are a new supporter of our project or have donated every month, we appreciate your compassion and commitment to increasing access to health care services. 

In 2020, we provided screening services for active TB, latent TB infection, COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and Hepatitis B and C to over 3,000 residents of Tam Hai Island. We diagnosed 237 people with latent TB infections and referred them for preventive treatment. Even though an outbreak of COVID-19 in the central region of Vietnam caused significant delays and restrictions on our activities, our team continues to work hard to follow up with patients and provide support throughout their full course of treatment. 

Over the past year, you helped us raise over $5,500 to spread awareness of our screening events, carry out the two weeks of mobile chest X-ray events, and provide both treatment and treatment support such as transportation subsidies, nutritional supplements, and social health insurance. We are so grateful that you gave us the chance to help so many people on Tam Hai Island!

Please share our project with your friends and family, and keep an eye out for updates on the launch of new campaigns on our GlobalGiving page. We can't wait to reach so many more lives in Vietnam with your help. 

With sincere thanks and appreciation,
The FIT team

To our donors,

We are so happy to update all of you on the success of our Tam Hai island screening!

The screening campaign lasted for 14 days in June and July. We started with latent TB screening through tuberculin skin tests (TST). A total of 2,823 people received this test, resulting in the detection of 231 cases of TB infection. The linkage of these individuals to treatment was delayed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Vietnam’s central region, but we are still working hard to treat these island residents at the Provincial Lung Hospital. Diagnosing and treating these individuals is extremely important for TB elimination, as this ensures that people infected with TB do not develop the active disease and stops them from spreading TB to others.

On June 18th, we transported a mobile chest X-ray truck to Tam Hai island and set up our events at schools and health centers to ensure residents could easily access care. Through our 14 days of events, we provided chest X-rays for over 3,000 island residents and were able to diagnose and treat two people with active TB.

Because island residents often have limited access to healthcare services, we also provided comprehensive screening services for other diseases such as COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and Hepatitis B and C. All people who screened positively for these diseases were referred to the public health system in Hai Phong and received appropriate confirmatory testing and care.

We have to thank you again for making this screening campaign possible. You helped us raise nearly $4,600, and these funds made a huge difference for the residents of Tam Hai Island by making sure they received the tests and treatment they need to lead healthy lives.

Please feel free to share our project with your friends and family! We are also looking forward to our new campaign that will launch next month, so please check our GlobalGiving page for new updates. Your involvement helps us spread the word about our work and continue to grow our community of supporters like you.

Wishing all of you health and safety,
The FIT team