Overcrowded hospitals in Vietnam make suffering worse
KUALA LUMPUR - Hundreds of critically ill patients in
Vietnam have been waiting for at least a month to undergo surgery, a
delay that is alarming but unavoidable because of overcrowded
hospitals, a report said on Saturday.
At Hanoi's Cancer Hospital, patients awaiting treatment are
crammed into stuffy corriders while those hospitalized sometimes share
their bed with two other patients.
According to the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA), overcrowding
also occurs at the city's Bach Mai Hospital, the Vietnam-Germany
Friendship Hospital and the Endocrinology Hospital where crowds pour
in every day.
"The hospital receives about 1,000 patients each day and that's
not even counting the out-patients," Bach Mai Hospital Deputy
Director Nguyen Tri Phi said, as quoted by VNA.
A run-of-the-mill health check-up should take between 10 and 15
minutes, but many patients have to wait for the whole day before being
called.
Dr Cao Doc Lap, head of the Viet Nam-Germany Friendship Hospital's
emergency department, said hundreds of patients were still waiting for
operations.
Even critically ill patients have to wait at least a month before
surgery, a delay that obviously does nothing for their ailment. And
still the patients stream in.
Dr Nguyen Van Loc, deputy director of the National Paediatric
Hospital, said the hospital had been overwhelmed with patients.
"Once we were running extremely short of beds and expecting an
influx of patients so we had to line the corridors with rows of beds,"
he said.
With the number of patients far outstripping medical
practitioners, this has resulted in poor care and treatment at some
medical centers.
Although some hospitals are already rushing in more beds, they
still cannot meet the growing demand. Doctors have been forced to take
a hard-nosed approach to medical care: denying treatment to patients
with minor ailments who come in from the provinces or relocating them
to neighborhood medical clinics.
To further ease their workload, doctors have appealed for help
from social organizations and the International Red Cross.
VNA said the health ministry is also sending qualified doctors
and nurses to help train grassroots specialists.
Islamic Republic News Agency - June 15, 2002.
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