Strengthening international cooperation to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment.

(Baonghean) - Over the years, international cooperation activities in healthcare have contributed to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment in the province. At the same time, activities to exchange experiences and mobilize funding for the implementation of tasks of the Nghe An Health sector have also been strengthened.

Professor Michel Collet - Lecturer at the University of Brest (France) conducting professional training at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Photo: Thanh Le.

To continuously improve the quality of medical examination and treatment for the people, in recent years, the Nghe An Health Department has actively promoted cooperation with countries around the world, with international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations to take advantage of support from foreign partners in terms of finance as well as technology transfer and human resource training for the health sector…

Specifically, the 2008 Provincial Health System Strengthening Project, implemented in Nghe An over a period of 4 years (2010-2014) with a total project budget of 4,300,000 euros, invested 112 items of medical equipment in Nghe An Friendship General Hospital, Northwest Regional General Hospital, general hospitals in Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Do Luong, and Tan Ky districts, and 171 commune health stations. This contributed to improving the shortage of equipment and effectively meeting the needs for improving the quality and developing medical services according to the technical classification of the Ministry of Health.

Since receiving medical equipment from the project, the units have effectively deployed and used it. 100% of the equipment from the project was put into use immediately after the handover was completed. Hospitals have developed an additional 7,749 medical services according to technical classification, meeting the people's need for access to medical services and contributing to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment. The number of outpatient visits and the number of patients treated at district hospitals have increased significantly.

Currently, the province is continuing to propose the continuation of the project "Strengthening the provincial-level health system in Nghe An," using ODA funds from the German Government for the period 2017-2020.

Nghe An Oncology Hospital, in collaboration with Japanese experts, has successfully implemented the percutaneous gastrostomy technique. Photo: Thanh Le

In addition, several projects, such as the "Project to Strengthen the Capacity of the Primary Healthcare System" (2012-2016) funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), focused on training and education in immunization and immunization planning for general hospitals, district and city health centers, and commune/ward health stations; organizing training on maternal and child health care for commune health station staff; and supporting research, initiatives, and policies to develop primary healthcare. Similarly, the "Support for Hospital Waste Management" project (2012-2017), funded by a World Bank loan, has proven effective in environmental protection in several hospitals.

Leveraging its strengths in international cooperation, the doctors and staff of Nghe An Friendship General Hospital have recently received support from embassies, international organizations, and foreign experts from countries such as Poland, the United States, and South Korea, in terms of human resource training, technical expertise, and specialized surgical equipment packages.

Thanks to collaboration with international experts, the hospital has mastered many advanced techniques and has affirmed its position by successfully performing open-heart surgery; coronary artery stenting; kidney transplantation; vascular surgery; infertility treatment using in-vitro fertilization, etc.

In the spirit of international friendship and solidarity, and in implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the leaders of the Nghe An Department of Health and the Xieng Khouang Department of Health (Laos) in September 2015, the Nghe An Friendship General Hospital has developed a plan to strengthen long-term cooperation in the field of healthcare between the two hospitals. This includes sending doctors from the Nghe An Friendship General Hospital for direct training and welcoming a delegation of doctors from the Xieng Khouang Hospital for training. From 2016 to the present, the hospital has sent nearly 20 doctors to train and transfer technology to the hospital in Xieng Khouang province, and the Xieng Khouang hospital has sent 10 medical staff to train at the Nghe An Friendship General Hospital. The Memorandum of Understanding outlines cooperation between Nghe An and Xieng Khouang provinces in 2017. Accordingly, Nghe An is the investor for the Xieng Khouang Friendship General Hospital project, a 200-bed facility funded by the Vietnamese Government.

Meanwhile, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital is one of the units benefiting from a component of the provincial and regional hospital development project (phase II) funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project has a total investment of 186 billion VND to upgrade Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital through the provision of medical equipment and training of medical staff, ensuring the hospital is capable of providing high-quality medical examination and treatment services to the people in the province and the region.

In October 2016, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital received 164 pieces of equipment from the JICA organization, including CT scanners, digital X-ray machines, endoscopic surgical systems, etc. “The JICA organization (Japan) has solved a major financial challenge for the hospital in investing in equipment. Thanks to the investment in new, modern equipment, the hospital has been able to apply advanced and specialized techniques, contributing to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment for the people,” said Dr. Tran Van Cuong, Deputy Director of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital.

Using testing equipment provided by JICA at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Photo: Thanh Le

Furthermore, to transfer advanced techniques from countries around the world, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital collaborated with the National Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital to organize a training course on advanced ultrasound for prenatal diagnosis between Vietnam and Japan for doctors working in obstetrics and diagnostic imaging at hospitals in the province and surrounding areas. Professor Michel Collet from the Brest Institute Center - Republic of France directly updated knowledge on topics such as: prenatal diagnosis; amniocentesis and fetal morphology ultrasound consultation techniques, as well as amniocentesis methods to detect fetal abnormalities... Prenatal diagnosis is the most necessary and scientific approach for monitoring pregnancy.

Similarly, Nghe An Oncology Hospital recently received and successfully implemented the technique of percutaneous gastrostomy with endoscopic assistance, without surgery. This technique is primarily used to support treatment for patients with nasopharyngeal diseases, such as esophageal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, esophageal stricture due to burn scars, and patients requiring gastrointestinal support in preparation for radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Japanese experts provided technical documents and guided the hospital's doctors in performing the procedure of placing the catheter directly through the skin with endoscopic assistance, using the hospital's equipment and that of Create Medic Co., Ltd. - Japan.

Thus, international cooperation plays an extremely important role, especially in healthcare, which is considered one of the sectors with strong applications of science and technology. However, it must be acknowledged that international cooperation in the healthcare sector of our province is still limited, particularly in attracting significant international investment, and the number of healthcare professionals trained abroad is still small, mainly consisting of sending a few staff members to attend specialized conferences overseas to update their knowledge. Especially for provincial-level hospitals, international cooperation remains passive.

According to Dr. Tran Van Cuong, Deputy Director of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, the reason for the passive and seasonal nature of international cooperation is the lack of infrastructure and human resources in hospitals. Hospitals do not have the resources to send staff to long-term training courses abroad, and have mainly focused on transferring technology domestically. “To improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, in the future, when the hospital becomes autonomous, stabilizing its personnel, training human resources, and transferring advanced technology from other countries will be the tasks that Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital aims for in order to realize the goal of developing several leading specialties of international standards,” Dr. Tran Van Cuong affirmed.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Hao, Acting Director of the Department of Health: “International cooperation is one of the seven inseparable key tasks of the health sector. The current difficulty is that resources for international cooperation in the form of non-refundable aid have been reduced. Therefore, the current trend is for the central government, provincial governments, and hospitals to coordinate to attract resources from countries and international organizations to invest in the health sector. At the same time, the province and the sector are directing units to send staff abroad for study, combined with inviting foreign experts to teach and transfer technology to the units.”

Thanh Le