There's a real need for better health services for foreigners

Last week, Viet Nam News asked its readers about their medical experiences in Viet Nam and if they felt confident about attending a Vietnamese hospital or would rather pay more and receive western-standard treatment. They were also asked about their experience with the medical insurance system in Viet Nam and what more should be done to improve the quality of the health-service system for foreigners. Below are several of the responses:

Mohamed Effendy, Singaporean, Singapore

I've been to a public hospital in HCM City. As a foreigner, I expected to face a complicated registration process. But that wasn't the case. Once at the registration counter, the nurse asked me about my symptoms. Then I was given a note to present to doctors.

Next week Baby walkers are being widely used in Viet Nam but they have been slammed for causing accidents. Canada has banned sales of baby walkers and the American Academy of Paediatrics has also recommended against their use. There are different opinions on banning baby walker sales in Viet Nam. One criticism is accidents are not the result of unsafe or inferior quality products but rather the fault of the parents for leaving their babies unattended. While many parents said baby walkers had given them the opportunity to do more housework, doctors and experts said the baby walkers, which are used to teach babies to walk, could delay walking because the carriage made them lazy. In your opinion, should a ban be considered? If you are parents, have you used baby walkers to teach your babies walk? Do baby walkers help infants? How should they be used to give the best help to babies? We welcome your opinions. Emails should be sent to:opinion.vietnamnews@gmail.com – or by fax to 84-439332311. Letters can be sent to: The Editor, Viet Nam News, 11 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi. Replies to this week's question must be received by Thursday, November 18.

The process took about five minutes. About 20 minutes later I had been checked out by a doctor who asked me detailed questions and told me to take X-ray scan on the third floor.

The cost, including registration, medical diagnosis and medication was only VND200,000, or US$15.

I was without local or foreign insurance, but I was served as well as any local.

Patrick Moran, British, HCM City

About 12 years ago I needed a small investiga tive operation and decided to go to Singapore to have it done. Singapore, naturally, was super efficient, super clean, and not un duly expensive by devel oped country standards.

Since then I have gained a reasonably favourable impression of the French Hospital in HCM City after using it for check-ups. I don't think I would go to the extra expense of travelling to Singapore in future.

Of course this assumes that you can afford this type of treatment, which 99 per cent of Vietnamese are unable to do.

The problem cannot be solved in a poor country that cannot afford a comprehensive National Health Service.

Ryu Hashimoto, Japanese, HCM City

I have received medical treatment from both local and foreign medical people in Viet Nam.

I also have two kinds of medical insurance. One is Vietnamese and the other is foreign. I don't think there is much difference between them.

Yet, we can receive treatment in a foreign medical centre or hospital if we want. These clinics and hospitals are very clean but I sometimes have doubts about the skills of the doctors. I don't think that they're always well experienced, even though they speak a foreign language.

Local hospitals may sometimes appear to be dirty and disorderly, but Vietnamese doctors have a wealth of clinical experiences - much more than those in foreign clinics.

I trust local hospitals much more than foreign hospitals and I can communicate with local doctors in Vietnamese, with some help from my wife.

However, the procedures for applying for insurance in local hospitals is unclear and doesn't cover enough of the medical cost. It's very complicated.

I hope the authorities will make applying for local medical-insurance much simpler and clearer.

Yanni Jackson, Australian, Ha Noi

I went to Bach Mai hospital because I was very ill. I suffered from a heart complaint. The treatment there was wonderful.

The doctor there said to me: "We will save you!". And they did. The medicine I received in Bach Mai was Western. They use Western technology, Western learning, and they applied Western solutions.

I believe in the public system, not private one. I think Viet Nam has gone down the wrong path with its private system. I think it will create two or three standards.

I went to the public system and was treated very well. But there is much overcrowding. It's a huge problem. I was told that it was partly because all Vietnamese want to go to the best hospital - Bach Mai.

But the public system needs more money. The doctors and medical staff who treated me were very knowledgeable and they treated me very well.

I wasn't asked for extra payment and I felt guilty at how little it cost me.

I was also told there are many clinics scattered around Ha Noi that aren't being used because people go to hospitals rather than clinics.

However, I must admit that the Vietnamese system is heavily overloaded and maybe it's not fair for outsiders to create an extra burden.

John Mac Donald, Australian, Ha Noi

Tourists are usually insured, or so young and healthy that they (touch wood!) never get sick or injured. But for foreigners living in Ha Noi, the prospect of visiting a hospital or clinic is daunting, with or without insurance.

It's amazing how medical staff at some of the premier institutions inquire about the health of your wallet or the state of your insurance cover before they bother about the bleeding, the bruising or broken bone or two.

And even if you are covered, insurance wise, one shudders at the soaring premiums insurance companies must charge to recoup some of the massive bills invented in Ha Noi.

I was once charged nearly US$900 for an hour's consultation, an electro-cardiogram - and a blood test - despite being quoted a tenth of that amount beforehand.

Of course I did not pay until el supremo in a far away land cut the fee back to that quoted. However, the initial argument with the cashier was heated and probably raised my heart rate to danger levels.

On another occasion, in another salubrious place set up for fantastically rich or insured foreigners, I was quoted about VND10 million to surgically remove a bothersome cyst.

I eventually had the job done by a German-trained, Vietnamese dermatologist - for the princely sum of VND180,000. No backstreet merchant, this delightful gent was using the latest laser equipment - and there was a nurse in attendance.

Yes, living in Ha Noi can be fun, but the prospect of getting sick can quickly turn joy to nightmare.

A young Vietnamese heart specialist at Bach Mai Hospital once had a dream of establishing a low-cost, highly professional medical wing for foreigners. He and his colleagues have, on one or two occasions, given me a check-up at the Vietnamese rates.

But I felt for the poor blighters. Not only do they perform dozens of check-ups, internal probes - and even operations - in a day, they also have to manage with old and over-worked equipment.

What Ha Noi needs is a medical institution staffed with dedicated doctors like those at Bach Mai, up-to-date equipment - and a managing accountant who just doesn't see dollar signs when foreigners or well-heeled locals walk, or stagger, through the door. — VNS