A medical worker from Mường Và Commune Medical Station gives free-of-charge health examinations and medicine to children in poor remote areas of Sơn La northern mountainous province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Cường

SƠN LA — In remote and border areas in the northern mountainous province of Sơn La, medical workers must travel through forests and cross over streams to fulfil their missions.

Even the basic tasks like health checks or distributing medicine come with an arduous journey to meet patients living in remote areas.

Once a month, Mường Và Commune Medical Station in Sốp Cộp District, assigns a team from their 10 doctors and nurses to head off to the far-flung locations.

They neatly strap their equipment to their motorbikes and head off across fragmented terrain in all weathers to make sure even those living in the most remote locations receive medical care.

Examinations take place in schools, cultural houses and also the patients’ homes.

Their work has taken on a new level of importance, as they not only provide COVID vaccinations but also educate people on the need to take shots.

Hàng A Dơ, health communicator in Phá Thóng Village, Mường Và Commune, said that every month, the mobile health team vaccinate children and provided health checks for people, so he went to every household to educate local residents the benefits of vaccination.

Lậu Bả Dênh, from Huổi Dương Village, Mường Và Commune, expressed his joy and excitement when the doctors and nurses came to his village to vaccinate his children.

The medical workers said that in remote and border areas, if they do not go to every village to give the people education about the beneficial vaccination, few children will be vaccinated on time and with enough doses.

Nguyễn Thị Giáng Hương, head of the Mường Và Commune Medical Station, said roads to the villages were very far and difficult to travel. Thus members of the mobile medical team always started their journey very early so that people do not have to wait.

The medical workers also take care of pregnant women, give health check-ups and consultations to people in remote and border areas.

Lường Văn Xuân, director of the Sốp Cộp District Medical Station, said that in the past, the centre and communal health stations had coordinated with agencies, departments and the local armed forces to take care of people’s health.

Since then, basic community health care is ensured.

With education, people in remote and border communes have seen positive changes in their lives. They want their children to be fully vaccinated and have regular health check-ups and consultations.

This is the motivation to help grassroots health workers love their profession more. They hope to receive more support to cover public health care better. — VNS