Vietnam/ Medicine finally reaches the remote villages of Tuyên Quang

In Cao Bô, in the mountainous province of Tuyên Quang, hundreds of inhabitants benefited for the first time from specialized medical examinations thanks to a free health campaign organized in the heart of isolated villages.

From dawn on May 23rd, the courtyard of Cao Bô primary and secondary school was filled with people from the perched hamlets of the Tây Côn Linh massif. Among them, many elders of the Dao ethnic group waited patiently for their consultation, sometimes after hours of walking through the mountain trails.

86-year-old Dang Thi Phuc was among the first to arrive. Suffering from joint pain, severe varicose veins and severe vision loss in her left eye, she explains that she visits the district hospital, several dozen kilometers away, less and less often.

"As I get older, the journeys become too difficult", she confides.

In this landlocked region, the medical infrastructure remains limited. To access specialized care, the inhabitants have to take steep roads, often dangerous during the rainy season.

Unprecedented examinations

Organized by the Dân tri newspaper , in partnership with the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the local authorities, this health campaign aimed to bring medical services closer to isolated populations.

The commune of Cao Bô is home to some 4,200 inhabitants spread across eleven villages, the vast majority of whom belong to the Dao ethnic group. Some hamlets, such as Lùng Tao, are located at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters.

For this mission, the doctors brought a number of specialized items of equipment: ultrasound scanners, FibroScan liver fibrosis measuring devices and rapid hepatitis B screening tests. For many local residents, this was their first experience of this type of medical equipment.

Early detection of diseases

Among the patients examined was 30-year-old Trang Thi Nhun, whose doctors discovered lesions suggestive of liver fibrosis. A hepatitis B carrier for several years, she had never undergone regular treatment.

"I thought it wasn't serious. Today, the doctors explained to me the risks of the disease", she recounts.

Over the course of the morning, medical teams also detected numerous cases of thyroid disorders. According to Dr Nguyên Phuc Khanh, between 30% and 40% of patients over the age of 45 had thyroid abnormalities, with some cases requiring further investigation due to suspicions of cancer.

Rapid tests also revealed twelve positive cases of hepatitis B in the commune.

For the doctors, these results underline the importance of early screening in remote areas, where certain diseases can go undiagnosed for a long time.

In all, more than 300 residents benefited from free medical examinations and health advice.

Source: lecourrier.vn/