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12 September, 2024

Strike Out Cancer at the Children’s Cancer Run 2024

We invite our ISHCMC community to join hands with us for the Children’s Cancer Run 2024 on the 17th November in the Global City, Thu Duc City, HCMC. The 5km race is accessible for everyone, whether you run or walk. The deadline to register for the race is the 30th September. Read more about the initiative and how to register below. 

Strike Out Cancer in Vietnam

Cancer in children is a growing problem in Vietnam. The incidence of cancer in Vietnamese children increased from 10,955 cases per year in 2010 to 14,740 per year in 2017, an annual 35% increase. While there is a rate of 82% of cancer survival worldwide, this number falls to just 28% in Vietnam.

​​The financial burden of cancer treatment in Vietnam is a major obstacle for many families. The estimated cost of 220,000,000 VND per treatment is a significant expense that often exceeds the capabilities of most households. Unfortunately, the national medical insurance scheme does not fully cover the cost of all necessary medications and treatments. As a result, families are forced to bear a substantial portion of the expenses out-of-pocket. This can lead to financial hardship and, in some cases, prevent children from receiving the critical care they need. Furthermore, the best cancer facilities are concentrated in major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This geographical disparity means that families living in rural areas or smaller towns often have to relocate for treatment, incurring additional costs for travel and temporary accommodation.

The combination of high treatment costs, limited insurance coverage, and access disparities creates a challenging environment for families facing cancer. Many children are unable to receive timely or adequate treatment, leading to devastating consequences.

Introducing the Children’s Cancer Run

The Children’s Cancer Run 2024 aims to raise 7 billion VND to support the medical treatment and financial needs of families affected by cancer in Vietnam. While this is the inaugural race of the Children’s Cancer Run, there is a long history of CanCham Vietnam organized runs in support of Cancer.

Longstanding members of our community may be familiar with the Terry Fox runs held over the past 26 years. The first run in Vietnam was held in 1997 and was named in honor of the Canadian runner Terry Fox, who sadly had his leg amputated at age 18 due to cancer. Terry, witnessing the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. His cancer sadly returned and he did not make it, but his story and drive inspired people all over the world. Over 26 years, the race raised over 25,000,000,000 VND with the support of over 221 thousand participants.

We now invite every member of ISHCMC to continue the dream of saving every child in Vietnam from cancer by joining the Children’s Cancer Run 2024. 100% of the proceeds will go to two beneficiaries, VinaCapital Foundation and Vietnam Children’s Fund.

Together with the support of our entire community, family, and friends, we can make a difference in the lives of children throughout Vietnam – and we can have fun, build relationships, and get active while we do it!

Event Schedule

Alongside the race, we hope to see some incredible performances from our ISHCMC community. 

How to register

ISHCMC students: will proudly wear their house shirts and represent their house during this race to build engagement across our entire community. 

Student registration: 150k VND

ISHCMC Families and Staff: When you register you will receive a Children’s Cancer Run T-shirt 

Families and Staff: 300K VND with T-shirt

Your shirts will then be ordered and delivered to campus 1 week before the race. We will notify you when it’s time to be collected. 

Transportation: To build a fun community spirit we will offer limited spaces for a bus service to go from school to the race in Global City. This is optional and on a pickup and drop-off basis – since this is a large event and there are expected to be thousands in attendance, please ensure your child is supervised on the bus and at the race.

Sign up, order your T-shirt size, and register your interest in transport here: 

Registration deadline: Monday 30th September 2024