A military doctor of Cha Lo international border station's clinic examines a local patient in Minh Hóa District, central Quảng Bình Province. — Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

QUẢNG BÌNH — At the Cha Lo international border station in Minh Hóa District, central Quảng Bình Province, there is a clinic that offers healthcare services to both military officers and local people.

Since the clinic was put into operation, ethnic minority people in the area have visited the centre for check-up and treatment and no longer rely on superstitious methods.

Dân Hóa Commune, where the clinic is located, has a large area and is home to ethnic minority groups living in small communities. Local people find it hard to access healthcare services due to the rugged and mountainous terrain.

Hồ Thị Nhím, living in Bãi Dinh Village, said now every time local people were sick, they would come to see military doctors and no longer make offerings to chase away "forest ghosts" as before.

“Anyone who is sick is taken to the clinic for a check-up. If they are too weak, the doctors will visit their house,” she told Sức Khỏe & Đời Sống (Health and Life) newspaper.

The clinic is fully equipped with basic infrastructure and drugs to treat common diseases and offer first aid.

A corner of the clinic with medicine. — Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

Major Phan Anh Tuấn, a military doctor at the clinic, said that in the past, sick people applied treatment methods that were spread among the community. They included some anti-scientific methods, which could not cure the disease and even made their condition worse.

Now local people, even those living in remote areas, visit the clinic for treatment.

Medical examination and treatment for local people is getting more and more effective, so the military doctors are gradually trusted.

Dr Tuấn said that the clinic could treat common illnesses. Only severe cases requiring long-term treatment would be transferred to higher-level hospitals.

Military officers have planted herbs in the clinic’s garden for traditional medicine and supplements.

"This is also a way to take advantage of high-value medicinal resources of Trường Sơn Forest," Tuấn said.

Military doctors plant herbs in the clinic's garden. —Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

Tuấn said on rainy days when remote villages were isolated due to floods, military doctors walked through the stream even at night to offer healthcare to sick people.

On dry days, the doctors might face snakes or toxic forest plants and animals on the way to the villages.

"There was one night we received a call from a patient suffering from appendicitis in Ka-ai Village at 10pm. We put on life jackets and found the shallowest part of the stream to swim through to take the patient to the clinic. Fortunately, the patient was treated in time," Tuấn said.

Hồ Luật, 70 years old, living alone, said: “The doctors visit me regularly and give me medicine to reduce my pain. They also give me money to buy food.” — VNS