Strengthening the friendship between Vietnam and Poland

(Baonghean) - In the chilly weather of a day at the end of October, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to Vietnam visited Nghe An, presenting gifts and messages filled with emotions and friendship. This is an affirmation and enhancement of the bond that has been established over the past decades to look forward to a future of closer cooperation between the two countries.

The Polish Ambassador to Vietnam presented a heating bed to the hospital's Obstetrics Department. Photo: Thu Giang

Nghe An General Friendship Hospital is a tertiary hospital, the need for medical examination and treatment of the people is increasing, the average number of patients is about 1,600 - 1,800 people/day. Among them, there are many people coming from neighboring provinces in the North Central region and also patients from provinces of Laos.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Huong - Deputy Director of the Hospital, this medical examination and treatment facility currently has over 900 staff, with more than 300 university doctors and pharmacists, capable of undertaking many advanced techniques in medical examination and treatment.

However, medical equipment for medical examination and treatment has not yet fully met practical requirements, especially in departments that are often "overloaded" such as Emergency Resuscitation, Obstetrics, etc.

“In the Intensive Care Unit, there are times when there are not enough ventilators to meet the needs of patients, so the team of nurses, caregivers and family members have to constantly take turns squeezing the ventilator for the patient,” Dr. Huong cited a typical example that happens every day at the hospital to talk about the lack of medical equipment.

During the third visit to Nghe An General Hospital, the delegation of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vietnam led by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ms. Barbara Szymanowska, presented the hospital's Obstetrics Department with two warming beds for newborn care, with a total value of more than 600 million VND.

This gift is expected to continue to help Nghe An General Hospital increase its ability to protect lives and increase the chances of survival for premature babies.

In fact, this is not the first time Poland has given Nghe An modern medical equipment, such special and useful gifts and sentiments.

In the 1980s, Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular received a lot of help from the Polish government and people.

During those years, the Polish government helped Nghe An build a friendship hospital. They sent many delegations of officials and experts to cooperate with the officials and people of Nghe An to build and operate the hospital.

Not only that, they also encouraged hospital staff to actively attend training courses and improve their qualifications in Poland in Medicine, gradually turning Nghe An General Friendship Hospital into a place to attract and provide many good doctors for the district level.

A surgery at Nghe An General Hospital.

In recent years, the Polish Government has continued to sponsor Nghe An, specifically donating medical supplies to the hospital, formerly known as the Vietnam - Poland Friendship Hospital.

In 2014 and 2015, during previous visits, Ms. Barbara Szymanowska and members of the delegation also presented Nghe An General Hospital with ventilators, neonatal incubators, and monitors for the Obstetrics Department.

According to hospital statistics, in the 3 years from 2015-2017, 11,000 newborns were born here, of which 230 babies had to use monitors to monitor their vital signs, and 225 premature babies were raised in incubators.

Each breath, each weak heartbeat of the babies was supported by hospital doctors and equipment provided by the Embassy, ​​increasing the chances of survival for premature babies.

At the awarding ceremony, Ambassador Barbara Szymanowska emphasized that the above activities are one of the opportunities to further strengthen the friendship between the Vietnamese and Polish peoples.

“We have cooperated since the 1980s of the last century and Poland always wants to support Nghe An to improve its healthcare capacity through gifts of modern medical equipment, training and education for medical staff with the common goal of taking care of community health.

Although this is a modest gift, it carries a great emotional message, with the main mission of improving healthcare for newborns - the future of the nation" - the Polish Ambassador affirmed.

Appreciating the gifts that the Ambassador and her delegation gave to the hospital, Mr. Dau Huy Hoan - Deputy Director of the Department of Health said: The modern and extremely useful medical equipment and supplies donated by the Polish Embassy have profound humanitarian significance in the context of many difficulties in taking care of the health of Nghe An people.

Over the past 67 years of establishing, building and strengthening the diplomatic relations between Poland and Vietnam, we have witnessed the continuous development and the “fragrant flowers and sweet fruits” from the friendship between the two peoples as well as the cooperation between the two states at many levels. These are the solid foundations and provisions to place all our trust and hope on a journey towards a new and more in-depth future of cooperation.

Thu Giang