The Vietnam Red Cross has launched a public education campaign to fight the spread of hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam.

The organization issued an emergency appeal Tuesday for nearly $1 million in international donations to help fund a campaign aimed at more than 750,000 people in 13 provinces.

The Red Cross says there have been more than 15,000 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease reported in Vietnam so far this year – seven times higher than during the same period in 2011 – and a more virulent strain of the disease has killed 11 children. Bhupinder Tomar, head of the Vietnam Red Cross, tells VOA the most common methods of prevention will reduce the spread of HFMD.

“The campaign is very simple, because this disease is very simple. It's an epidemic that has no medical cure to it, but it can be prevented by just washing your hands, and improving the general hygiene in the population. And so the campaign is largely targeted at caregivers and in schools, where the young kids are out of their homes, and during the day they are living with the caretakers.”

The Red Cross says it will mobilize 2,700 volunteers for door-to-door visits to homes and day-care centers, and it plans community information sessions. Tomar says the Vietnamese government has been pro-active in the public relations effort, sending out notices at its lowest government levels, including in communes and provinces, to increase preventative measures.

The campaign will continue for the next nine months, to cover the two peak periods for HFMD – between April and May, and then in August and September.