Improving primary healthcare in remote Vietnam

ChildFund is training a new generation of nurses and healthcare workers to combat high levels of newborn deaths in remote Vietnam. Newborn fatalities in Hoa Binh province make up almost half of all child deaths. Tu, who heads a commune health centre in Hoa Binh, says  poor infrastructure and a lack of community awareness resulted in newborns not being treated in time to cure diseases. “We once met a mother who closed her room windows to prevent the wind from coming in while her newborn daughter was suffering from jaundice,” Tu says. “She did not know the proper treatment. When she was sent to the hospital for a check-up, the little girl was diagnosed with an incurable brain condition.” Stories like these are far too common in rural Vietnam , which is why healthcare workers like Tu are eager to improve healthcare facilities and community awareness about child health. In May 2017, Tu attended ChildFund’s workshop for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), which promotes mother and child healthcare practices at home and in the community. During the workshop, healthcare staff and experts from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the provincial Department of Mother and Child Health, hospitals and district and commune health centres discussed the implementation of IMCI in Hoa Binh.