In the heavy rain that poured down early in the morning, Ms. Dinh Thi Lac (25 years old) and hundreds of other parents went to the Son Linh Commune Health Station (Quang Ngai province) from 6-7am. They brought along children of all ages, waiting to be taken care of by doctors from far away.
People come to Son Linh Commune Health Station, Quang Ngai province to register for medical examination in the program "Spreading Love" (Photo: Hoang Le).
Born with a serious illness
Holding her son with a bewildered face in her arms, Ms. Dinh Thi Lac sat silently. Nearly 5 years since the baby was born, the mother has endured the pain of witnessing her son's body not being able to develop normally like his peers.
Ms. Lac recalls that when she was pregnant, she and her husband had high hopes. But when the baby was born, the whole family was surprised when the doctor diagnosed him with a congenital neural tube defect. Over time, the baby boy could only lie in one place, unable to walk, talk or laugh.
"At that time, I also went for an ultrasound but found nothing unusual, but when the baby was born, he was like that...", the mother who had taken care of her child with cerebral palsy for many years sadly shared.
A mother carrying her child with congenital cerebral palsy waited to see a doctor early in the morning (Photo: Hoang Le).
To take care of her child, she had to reduce her farming time, sometimes even asking for help from family members. Living in a remote area, and being an ethnic minority with difficult circumstances, Ms. Lac never had the opportunity to take her child to a major hospital for treatment.
When hearing the commune announce that the Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital (Hospital 1A) traveled more than 800km to examine local people, Ms. Lac took her child from home to the medical station at 6am.
“I waited for more than 3 hours, hoping that the doctor would examine my child, find out what was wrong, and cure him. I just hope that he can live and walk like other people…”, Ms. Lac expressed.
Sitting next to her, Ms. Dinh Thi Vot also held tightly a child whose head kept falling to the ground. It was none other than her child - L. (14 years old) - who had a neural tube defect that led to cerebral palsy and congenital blindness.
Many children in Son Linh commune were recorded by doctors as having motor disabilities (Photo: Hoang Le).
For the past 14 years, the woman has almost lost faith in the day her child will recover, because she has become so used to the sight of the child not being able to control himself, sometimes hitting the person next to him and even his mother unconsciously. Living by working as hired workers in the acacia plantation, Vot and her husband struggle to make ends meet, and where can they find the money to take their child for a specialist examination?
Even the two words “hospital” were still very strange in the minds of that Hre ethnic family. When the reporter asked about her dream, the woman stopped to think for a moment, then pointed to the baby she was holding in her arms, saying nothing.
For Ms. The, the difficulties have been compounded by many years of living alone raising her 13-year-old daughter named Q., who has congenital cerebral palsy.
Children with congenital disabilities who have not received medical care for many years, causing their condition to become increasingly severe (Photo: Hoang Le).
“Baby Q. cannot speak or walk, so taking care of him is quite difficult for me. When his father was still alive, I had someone help me with the farming, but now I am the only one working to make a living. Besides the baby, there is also a child in my family who is born deaf and mute…
Hearing the commune announce that a team of doctors from Hospital 1A would be coming today, I and many other people were very happy. We hope there will be some progress for our child…”, Ms. The shyly shared her dream.
Struggling to find ways to reduce the number of children with disabilities
Doctor Le Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Son Linh Commune Health Station, said that the locality used to have more than 6,000 people. After merging with two other areas, the new commune's population tripled (more than 17,000 people). Of which, the Hre ethnic minority accounts for more than 90%.
According to Dr. Ha, the rate of people with chronic diseases and non-communicable diseases in the locality is still high. In particular, many children here have conditions such as neural tube defects, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc.
Because the economic conditions here are very difficult, the roads in the mountainous areas are remote, people have difficulty accessing advanced treatment facilities, and there are also few medical teams from higher-level hospitals returning to the locality.
Children and the elderly in Son Linh commune have difficulty accessing advanced treatment facilities, so they are in dire need of medical care support (Photo: Hoang Le).
Doctor Ha hopes that in the near future, Son Linh will have more and more quality medical units coming to take care of people's health, as well as receive support in developing prenatal screening, to minimize the number of children with brain disabilities.
Mr. Dinh Van Chi, Vice Chairman of Son Linh Commune People's Committee, added that since the merger, the local government has tried to call on philanthropists and major hospitals in the area to come and examine and treat people.
Therefore, when Hospital 1A (Ministry of Health) traveled a long distance from Ho Chi Minh City to organize the program "Spreading Love" for the people in general and hundreds of disabled children in particular, the locality was very happy.
In addition to health screening, people also received gifts from doctors at Hospital 1A before leaving (Photo: Hoang Le).
“The activities of Hospital 1A are very meaningful to the commune. In the near future, we will continue to call on hospitals and philanthropists to come to the locality to provide medical examination and treatment, as well as continue to review policies to best support the people,” Mr. Chi affirmed.
Speaking to Dan Tri reporter on October 13, Master, Doctor Ngo Anh Tuan, Acting Director of Hospital 1A, said that in this program (taking place from October 9-12), doctors and nurses of Hospital 1A examined and screened more than 100 children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, congenital heart disease, Down syndrome, etc.
In addition, many elderly people and people with mobility problems have proactively sought out and received health check-ups from the hospital. During the screening period, 8 special cases were advised by Hospital 1A to be sent to Ho Chi Minh City for free treatment. Of these, 6 were children and 2 were adults.
Doctor Ngo Anh Tuan, Director of Hospital 1A, encouraged patients to arrange to come to Ho Chi Minh City for free treatment (Photo: Hoang Le).
“Like the case of Mr. Dinh Van Trieu (born in 1988), we recorded that the patient had bilateral elbow flexion contractures, or another young man had a traffic accident that caused complete paralysis of his right arm.
When the patients come to Ho Chi Minh City, we will consult to plan early surgery. Multiple injuries to the right arm require long-term hospitalization, so in addition to the health insurance payment, the hospital will support the remaining hospital fees for them," said Dr. Ngo Anh Tuan.
According to the leader of Hospital 1A, after 12 deployments, the unit's "Spreading Love" program has reached many disadvantaged localities, bringing hundreds of disabled patients to Ho Chi Minh City for free treatment. After surgery, the patients were monitored and periodically re-examined, most of which had very positive results.
Dr. Ngo Anh Tuan also shared that now that the unit has been transferred to the Ministry of Health, it continues to maintain international cooperation activities, performing free surgeries for congenital defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate, etc. for cases with special circumstances.
The hospital will also closely coordinate with provinces and cities, sending doctors to the site for screening examinations, in order to bring the best treatment results to the people.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/nhieu-ba-me-cung-mot-xa-phat-hien-con-mac-benh-hiem-o-nao-tu-luc-lot-long-20251013151546705.htm
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