Operation Childlife originated from a request from the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation (CNFC) in 2004 to upskill and mentor paediatric doctors and nurses in Children’s Hospital Number 2, Ho Chi Minh City, and to carry out a number of complex surgeries.
Since that first mission, when a small team of leading specialists travelled from Ireland to Vietnam, Operation Childlife has expanded into Tanzania (2004), Mongolia (2022) and Jordan (2023) and continues to successfully partner with the Christina Noble Foundation in Vietnam, now visiting two hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City each year.
We are so grateful to the 100+ senior level consultants and other specialist medical professionals, who have travelled (as volunteers) for one and two weeks missions over these past two decades, to conduct complex surgeries, provide pre- and post-operative support, guidance, training, mentoring and to develop their local colleagues on a continual basis.
During the annual clinical mission in November 2024, the Operation Childlife volunteers led by Programme Director and founder Prof. Martin Corbally, celebrated this fantastic milestone with our partners from Children’s Hospital No. 2 and the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation.