Heart for you

According to 2008 WHO data, 7 to 8 out of every 1,000 newborns suffer from congenital heart defects (CHD). In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health reports approximately 15,000 infants born with CHD annually. Most of these cases are found in impoverished families in remote regions with limited access to healthcare.

Unlike many other childhood illnesses, CHD is life-threatening but often curable with a single surgery. The primary hurdle in reducing CHD mortality is the need for early detection and timely intervention. Unfortunately, due to extreme poverty, most affected children are diagnosed late and cannot afford treatment, as the average cost per surgery reaches 40 million VND.

Furthermore, traditional fund-raising projects were often limited in scale and lack long-term sustainability. Most charities operated as one-way cash donations to individuals. Many projects only intervened when patient's condition had become critical, lacking a comprehensive support system for screening, administrative help, or travel logistics.

This has posed a challenge for Viettel to solve how to organize large-scale screenings in remote areas, maintain long-term project viability, and mobilize resources from both its internal workforce and its massive national customer base.

"Heart For You" transcends the traditional model of one-way corporate charity. Viettel optimises its entire resource ecosystem to develop a long-term, community-driven fund with the following highlights.

The project prioritises reducing CHD mortality through early detection. Viettel invest in gathering information and creating the best conditions for families during screening and administrative processes.

Viettel has leveraged its widespread presence across all 63 provinces to receive applications and support patients. On average, each screening mission involves 50 local Viettel staffs, while over 1,200 stores serve as application hubs.

To involve the entire society for program socialisation process, Viettel has organised diverse activities:

• SIM Card Auctions: Leveraging core business assets to raise funds.
• SMS Campaigns: Reaching over 45 million subscribers, allowing any citizen to contribute a small amount (e.g., 20,000 VND/message) to save a child.
• Viettel Fastest Event: The first annual marathon dedicated to community fund-raising, where all ticket proceeds go directly to the "Hearts for Children" fund.

Viettel has digitised the management of the program, building a patient database and a seamless donation system via SMS.

Objective

Viettel implements "Hearts for Children" to mobilise nationwide support for the timely detection and treatment of CHD, improving the quality of life for pediatric patients. The program also honors the medical professionals dedicated to saving these lives. Specific goals include:

• Conducting screenings in at least 10 underprivileged provinces per year for early detection of heart disease and provide timely treatment for struggling children.
• Socialising the Fund by leveraging internal resources and the collective strength of over 45 million customers, different from usual fund proposal to large corporations.
• Contributing a minimum of 5 billion VND annually from Viettel to cover 100% of surgery costs for children with difficult situations. 

Vision

With a prevalence rate of 0.7% - 0.8% among newborns, CHD is a common yet dangerous condition that steals the hope of many children. With timely surgery, these children are given a completely new life—a chance to live, learn, and grow.

However, many children from underprivileged families and remote areas are deprived of this chance due to limited local medical facilities. This is not only a tragedy for the children and their families but also a profound loss for the nation's future generation.

For Viettel, every child saved is not just a family’s joy but a contribution to the future generation of the nation. Bearing this vision in mind, Viettel has spent enormous efforts to deploy and spread the compassionate spirit for the "Heart For You" project, inviting the entire community to join hands to help children and families in need.

Implementation Process - Scope

Now in its 15th year, the program continues to expand its unwavering impact nationwide. It has provided free screenings for over 150,000 children under 16 years old. In the first nine months of 2023 alone, the program reached 9 provinces and screened over 10,000 children.

The operation revolves around two pillars: Screening Missions (10-12 provinces annually) and Fund-raising. For the heart screening missions, the program partners with leading cardiovascular centers to bring early diagnosis of congenital heart disease to children in remote and underprivileged communities across the country. Every year, these missions reach an average of 10 to 12 provinces.

The program’s fund-raising initiatives focus on three key areas: SIM card auctions, the annual 'Viettel Fastest' marathon, and direct public appeals via SMS. Viettel also produces live broadcasts on VTV to share the project’s compassionate mission with the community. All proceeds go toward funding life-saving heart surgeries for children and providing medical equipment to strengthen the cardiovascular care capabilities of hospitals across Vietnam.

Budget

Since 2008, Viettel has optimised costs by using internal staff to verify family backgrounds and support patients. Under the direction to optimise cost and saving for the Funds, Viettel has leveraged its available resources to execute the program and has raised an average of over 10 billion VND per year, with 5 billion VND coming directly from the company's internal resource.

To maximize awareness, Viettel combines a mix of mass media—press, TV, radio, and local PA systems—to share program updates and call for support. Communication efficiency is achieved by utilising Viettel's own ecosystem (SMS, Mocha) and partnered channels like VTV. By fostering internal resonance, each employee becomes a brand ambassador for the program. Heart For You also benefited from the collaborative communication efforts of provincial authorities and local government agencies.

Annually, Viettel records over 5,000 donation messages support the Heart For You fund. The Viettel Fastest marathon attracts over 6,000 runners per season, contributing nearly 2 billion VND in ticket sales per event.

The initiative has created significant social impact in pediatric cardiac care. A total of 6,500 children have received life-saving heart surgeries, with 150,000 children have been screened across 91 missions nationwide.

Regarding financial resources, the Heart For You fund has reached 200 billion VND in total, with Viettel contributing 70 billion VND. Moreover, 15.15 billion VND invested in enhancing the surgical capacity of hospitals to ensure healthcare sustainability.

The project also recorded an impressive number with 1,000+ stores actively involved in the operational intake of patients, along with a 2 billion VND funding from charity marathon, attracting positive response from the community with 6,000 participants.

"Heart For You" has established itself as an annual program for Viettel. By leveraging a highly effective communication channel like SMS, Viettel can reach its vast base of over 45 million customers to promote the initiative. According to 2021 data from the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam has 128 million mobile subscribers, suggesting that through a simple act of text-to-donate, the program has the potential to call for immense resources.

Furthermore, the "Viettel Fastest" marathon also serves to broaden its public reach, bridging a passion for sports with humanitarian and community-oriented values. Each event generates over 3,000 social media discussions and nearly 500,000 interactions, amplifying the compassionate message of both the marathon and the "Heart for You" program. Viettel plans to scale up the initiative by developing a dedicated mini-app for the race, reaching 40 million domestic customers and potentially attracting health enthusiasts worldwide for real-time, round-the-clock fundraising.

It is evident that the long-term expansion potential of "Heart for You" is vast. Viettel continues to evolve the program by integrating technology to optimise management and operations while communicating its humanitarian values to businesses, organizations, and the wider public.