Dr. Anne-marie Lugossy, a Canadian mammography technologist, gives an educational mammography seminar at the University Medical Center hospital in Vietnam. | Photo courtesy of RAD-AID

The University Medical Center (UMC) is one of the largest teaching hospitals in southern Vietnam, with over 40 radiologists and 70 technologists. Considered one of Vietnam’s national referral hospitals, UMC provides services to the southern half of the country, reaching a population of roughly 4.2 million patients. Unfortunately, the hospital’s only mammography unit has been in disrepair since 2019.

BBF provided a grant to RAD-AID, a nonprofit organization that increases and improves radiology services in low- and middle-income countries. The funding allowed RAD-AID to conduct a “Breast Readiness Assessment” at Ampola Tasakhtaa Hospital in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where the organization also provided educational lectures on radiology and imaging practices.

The remaining funding from the grant has supported RAD-AID’S work to improve cancer screening and radiology services at UMC. Dr. Camron Smith, an American breast radiologist and a program manager for RAD-AID, and Anne-marie Lugossy, a Canadian mammography technologist, spent one week meeting with peers at UMC and three other institutions in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Dr. Smith and Dr. Lugossy provided on-site lectures to department radiologists and mammography technologists on a variety of breast imaging topics. The trip also provided RAD-AID with valuable insights into the specific breast imaging needs in Vietnam.