Fifty-year-old Vo Van Dong from Que Phong Commune’s Loc Trung Village in Que Son District, Quang Nam Province, is suffering from throat cancer and is in desperate need of financial assistance to cover the cost of his medical treatment.

Mr Dong has faced a year of bad health.  In November 2015, he was taken to the Quang Nam General Hospital for treatment, and then 2 weeks later he was transferred to the Da Nang General Hospital for the surgical removal of a dome-shaped tumour in his nose.  After the surgery, he was diagnosed with throat cancer and admitted to the city's Cancer Hospital for treatment.

Mrs Lieu and Mr Dong

Mr Dong’s family is very poor.  He and his wife Nguyen Thi Lieu, 48, are farmers in Loc Trung village and they have 1 daughter and 2 sons.  Their daughter is unemployed and she has a debt of 50 million VND from the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies’ preferential loans for poor students.  Their middle child, a son, is a second-year student at a local junior college and the youngest son is a Year 5 pupil at a local primary school.

Mrs Lieu said that she has recently had to borrow money from relatives and neighbours to pay for funeral and burial services for her mother-in-law who passed away one month ago, and for her husband’s treatment costs.  She herself has been suffering from chronic diseases such as stomach ache and degenerative spine and vestibular disorders, but she cannot afford to pay for her own treatment. 

Dr Nguyen Le Thanh Hai from the Cancer Hospital’s Radiotherapy Faculty said that Mr Dong is in need of a 35-day course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  Part of his treatment costs will be covered by Mr Dong’s health insurance for the poor but his family will have to pay the remaining 12.250 million VND.  In addition, another 1.5 million VND is required to pay for developing cancer treatment regimens.

Mr Dong is desperately in need of financial assistance to cover his treatment costs.  Donations can be sent to the Da Nang Newspaper, 42 Tran Phu, Da Nang (Phone: 0511 3812341 and 0905832222) or please contact Mrs Nguyen Thi Lieu, Mr Dong’s wife, on 01636 997480.