Background

According to guidelines from the Ministry of Health, investment priority should be given to Commune Health Centres so that essential healthcare services are available and easily accessible by community members especially those living in remote areas. Essential health services include medical examinations and various treatment techniques as well as a list of prescription drugs used for primary healthcare services. Nevertheless, in Vietnam, only 6.5% of Commune Health Centers have enough rooms and only 25.9% of them have enough equipment. Moreover, only 30% of prescription drugs are available at Commune Health Centers. Healthcare services at the grassroots level still face challenges in the availability of resources and equipment.

Our Approach 

With this desire to support Commune Health Centers in remote areas and to help them provide adequate essential health services for their community members, our foundation in collaboration with the group of doctors from Ho Chi Minh City has organized outreach services that provide free medical examinations and medicine distribution to those local to remote areas. Since 2010, we have served 3,324 disadvantaged patients in the Mekong Delta region. These activities have responded to positively by local authorities and residents. “Khanh Hung Commune is a resident in Tran Van Thoi District which faces much economic difficulty and has poor infrastructure. Disadvantaged families, especially Khmer ones, are faced with difficulties in finding adequate accommodations, medical examinations and treatment... Thank you for the generous support of the Lawrence S. Ting Foundation and the group of doctors from Ho Chi Minh City.", shared by Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Vice Chairman of Khanh Hung Commune in Ca Mau province.

These outreach services bring practical benefits to community members and have contributed to alleviating the stress placed on rural communities due to lack of available and adequate healthcare.