HCM CITY— Việt Nam-Russia Tropical Centre, set up 30 years ago under a long-standing and close friendship between Việt Nam and Russia, has made significant medical achievements, especially in hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The centre’s branch in the southern region has offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy since 1994.

Dr Nguyễn Phương Nam, head of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment and Research Centre, which is managed by Việt Nam-Russia Tropical Centre, told Vietnam News Agency that the therapy had been used on nearly 200,000 patients with a variety of diseases, including ulcers caused by diabetes.

With the therapy, patients breathe pure oxygen at high pressure, Nam said, adding that it was especially suited to children and the elderly.

The therapy is also used in conjunction with other treatments for strokes, endarteritis obliterans, sudden deafness, dengue fever, and autism.

Because of the effectiveness of treatment, the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment and Research Centre has trained doctors at other hospitals in the southern region, including traditional medicine and rehabilitation hospitals in the provinces of Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, and Bình Thuận, and Đồng Nai General Hospital.

The Việt Nam-Russia Tropical Centre is also involved in vegetable cultivation on the Trường Sa Islands.

Nguyễn Văn Thành Nam, deputy head of the centre’s environmental analysis division, who is leading the research work, said that when he was on a business trip to the islands in 2005, he saw a shortage of vegetables.

He and his colleagues began to conduct research on cultivation techniques in greenhouses, and later installed an automatic drip irrigation system and multi-layer trays in greenhouses. The effort was a success, Nam said.

The Việt Nam-Russia Tropical Centre has also conducted many international research projects in defence security.

Colonel and Dr Nguyễn Văn Khuê, director of the Việt Nam-Russia Tropical Centre’s branch in the southern region, said the centre has had many achievements thanks to supports and help of Russian experts.

Around 100 to 130 Russian experts every year come to the centre to co-operate in research and projects.

The Russian government has helped train Vietnamese scientists and staff for many years, according to Khuê. — VNS