More than 18,000 residents of HCM City and neighbouring provinces have joined in the Terry Fox Run to raise funds for cancer research and treatment activities.

Children join the Terry Fox Run yesterday in HCM City. This is the 19th year the event has been organised in Viet Nam to raise funds for cancer research and treatment activities.

The annual run, held yesterday by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam, the Consulate General of Canada and the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations, took place in Phu My Hung area in District 7. This is the 19th year the event has been organised in Viet Nam.

The participants were from all social strata such as children, students, employees of organisations and businesses, and foreigners. Since the run was a community activity, they could walk, cycle or roller-skate along the 5km distance, organisers said.

The Terry Fox Run commemorates Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox, who made a Marathon of Hope run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research in 1980, after losing his leg to osteosarcoma.

Since the first run in Canada in 1981, the event has taken place annually in more than 60 countries with millions of participants, becoming the world's largest fund-raising campaign for cancer research and treatment.