Assessment of water, sanitation, and hygiene services in district health care facilities in rural area of Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Access to sufficient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is a crucial requirement for patients during therapy and general well-being in the hospital. However, in low- and middle-income countries, these services are often inadequate, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality of patients. This study aimed at assessing the current situation of WASH services in six District Health Care Facilities (DHCFs) in rural areas of the Mekong Delta provinces, Vietnam. The results showed that these services were available with inappropriate quality, which did not compromise the stakeholders' needs. The revealed WASH infrastructures have raised concerns about the prolonged hospital stays for patients and push nosocomial infections to a high level. The safety of the water supply was doubted as the high E. coli (> 60%) and total coliform incidence (86%) was observed with very low residual chlorine concentration (< 0.1 mg/L) in water quality assessment. Moreover, water supply contained a high concentration of iron (up to 15.55 mg/L) in groundwater in one DHCF. Technical assessment tool analysis proved that the improper management and lack of knowledge by human resources were the primary roots of the observed status WASH services. Improvement of the perceptions of WASH should be done for the hospital staff with collaboration and support from the government to prevent incidents in the future.

To manage cerebro cranial trauma in case of lacking of modern diagnostic equipment

329 subjects (234 males, 94 females) with cerebro cranial trauma were treated at Dien Bien Phu Hospital in Lai Chau province from January 1st 1994 to December 31st 1998. Results: 8/329 cases were refered to other hospital because of various other causes. 283 cases (88.16%) among them underwent internal management. 38 cases (11.84%) surgeried. Mean duration of treatment was 7.4 days. Mean post operative care 12.2 days. 293/312 cases were recovered generally (91%). Post operative recoverd cases accounted for 25/38 cases (65%) among them 22 cases were completely recovered (88%). No negligible trauma was detected at autopsy. In the conditions of basic level health facilities, X ray craniography was necessary, needing an early management.