(KPL/VNA)Doctors from Quang Ngai 2 General Hospital in the central province of the same name will provide training and transfer pediatric anesthesia techniques to colleagues from Attapeu provincial Hospital in Laos.

Under the three-month programme, Vietnamese specialists will provide hands-on instruction and technology transfer to Viengkhon Manivong and other doctors from Attapeu. Once the Lao doctors master the procedures, the Quang Ngai team will travel to Attapeu to complete the transfer and give on-site guidance.

Le Huu Loi, Deputy Director of Quang Ngai 2 General Hospital, said the initiative forms part of a memorandum of understanding between the two hospitals. The Vietnamese hospital has been conducting various training and technology transfer programmes to help Attapeu Hospital improve its capacity, particularly in anesthesiology — an area where the Lao hospital still faces many difficulties, he said.

Previously, doctors from Quang Ngai assisted their Lao counterparts in performing general anaesthesia. The current phase focuses on pediatric anaesthesia and will later expand to cover complex diseases.

Nuphit Phonsavan, Deputy Director of Attapeu Hospital, said the hospital can currently perform anaesthesia for adults but not for children under five, due to equipment shortages and limited technical expertise. For pediatric cases, they have had to transfer patients to Champasack Hospital, more than 200 kilometres away, which causes great hardship for families, he explained.

He expressed hope that after the training in Quang Ngai, Attapeu doctors will be able to perform the procedures independently to treat young patients locally, saving time and costs for families.

Nuphit also suggested more medical training and technology transfer in the future to improve healthcare services in Attapeu.

KPL