The Eye-opening Visit

The female ward at the UnitIt has been a long tiring day but I felt compelled to write this blog entry as the memory was still etched in my mind. The time I spent at the Haematology Ward at Yangon General Hospital was rather inspirational and should I be given the chance, I would more than happy to give it another visit.

Before I go on any further, I would not pretend that the health service there was any better than ours. But the main different was, how the Doctors and patients there cope with the severe limitations that they have over there. Things which we took for granted here were luxuries, be it, the ability to use sophisticated tests to help diagnose and treat our patients, the availability of modern drugs, in terms of chemotherapy and even basic antibiotics, as well as the superior human resource that we have here.

At the entrance to the Day Care Unit. Notice the cool sarong and slippers?I wonder what this thing does ....Let's start from the patients. They came from far and wide mtgs major difference there was, given the choice between modern medicine and traditional remedies, they would prefer modern. Maybe, the scarcity shape their thinking as here, many patients arrogantly prefers the traditional means even when they do more harm to them. The patients there appreciate the care being offered, that bit more than what we do here. The extended family will stay with the patients while they were being warded, and since some of them traveled many days to the hospitals, all the family members would sleep at the hospital with them. These family member would then become helpers, they do the chores, such as lifting patients, cleaning - even the toilets, distribute food. Realising their invaluable help, the hospital actually have a separate area for these caters to sleep should they wish, a separate toilet, kitchen and even social rooms with TV. For them, the nurses job was to assist the Doctors. The family members would do the cleaning and changing for them.

The patients here would have to pay for the drugs themselves, but the blood products, hospital stay as well as doctors fee were provided by the government. Realising that not everybody can afford the medicines, the Doctors utilises the help from NGOs as well as judicial use of generic products. The Pharmaceuticals also lent their hands through generous discounts and donations. I even saw some of the ward furnitures had Pharmaceutical company names etched on them.

This patch of green was personally planted by a retired Haematology Professor. He wanted his patients to enjoy nice views.The isolation ward on the second floorThis room was maintained by the monastry and were usually occupied by sick monks. These three were on various stages of leukaemia treatment.The common room for the relatives. All of them chipped in, making life easier for everybody. The place was very, very clean.Contributions from the Pharma companiesLastly, let me mention about the staffs. The Doctors there were being paid a pittance and brain drain had been a major issue for the country. In UMMC alone, there were six Myanmar Doctors I knew who worked in various fields of Medicine. They had to move abroad for better living, as well as a chance to have advance training. Yes, there were a few large private hospital I saw during my stay in Yangon, but only very few people can afford them. Medical Insurance was not something well-established in the country.

In the Haematology Unit which I visited, there were only five nurses on duty at any one time, as well as the Doctors there working everyday including Sundays. It was not uncommon that they admit 20 patients daily just in the Unit alone. But all the staffs there seemed unusually content. They welcomed us with open arms. We were taken round the Unit, meeting the patients and seeing the facilities, and not one complain we heard from them even off the records. When asked what they really needed for the development of the Unit, they mentioned funding for their juniors to advance their trainings. Such generous attitude.

Enjoying the nice, freshly-brewed Myanmar tea. I had three cups. Typical greedy capitalist that I was.It sure was an experience, something valuable which I appreciated more than the actual time in the lecturer hall listening about he latest therapy and how good they were. If I were invited again to go to visit another similar country, I would definitely find a way to see how the Doctors there cope. I was surer there were plenty I could learn.

I'm Back

I'm back in Kuala Lumpur but it has been a long and fruitful day. Went to bed early last night after drifting off while watching the Arsenal match - good thing they drew as we just got beat by Liverpool just now. I did not even bother to pack when I slept.

Woke up super early as to stick to Malaysia time - woke up at 5.30 am which was 7am in Malaysia. Checked out straight after breakfast as I have an early morning trip to do prior to catching the bus to the airport. I went to visit Yangon General Hospital - at least the Haematology wing. What an eye-opening visit it was. Clearly that would be for another entry.

After a morning tree, listening to the tribulations of the local doctors, I realised how lucky the patients and the doctors in Malaysia. We do have a decent health service in Malaysia, but my God, how inefficient it was. The hospital there was surprisingly clean and well-kept, and the main bulk of the upkeep was from donations.

On my way out, my friend from Hospis Malaysia, Ednin was about to take a cab to a local hospice to see first hand the situation there. I was sure he will have plenty to tell when he returns in a couple of days time. I will email him then. Check out and the trip through Immigrations at the airport was smooth. The flight took off almost on time - there was a generator failure, delaying the taxiing. I reached home just after 6 pm, well before the kick-off for the big match tonight.

Rather tired now and about ready to doze off. Will be at work tomorrow, and maybe will go through the photos after work. Will be doing the blogging for the trip throughout the week.

Day Three

At least I managed to wake up a bit later tub yesterday. Got down for breakfast just after 7am, taking my time, and enjoying the glorious morning sunshine. I wish that I can take a walk outside though ....

The morning talk started at 8.30, today mainly covering a different topic from yesterday. In the later session, I was sure that I will enjoy the talk by Ednin, Hospis Malaysia CEO. That should take me to the last session.

So what will I do after that? I really fancy walking about with my camera as there were plenty of nice building in town right next to the hotel. The worry was, my LX3 was down to one bar in terms of power. I hope it will be good enough for 50 or so frames. If not, then it will be the iPhone doing the snapping.

Day Two

The second day in Yangon today and it was such a relief getting my talk out of the way. We arrived yesterday at about lunch time and went straight for the afternoon lecture session after some food. As I was not sure if the food were Halal or not, the organizer had put aside some seafood for us.

The afternoon session was more of a meet and greet although it was followed right after with a talk by a Pharmacist. I was pretty tired by then and was not able to concentrate. Unpacked and was tired enough for a power nap.

The dinner was by the poolside. It was a barbecue and Yangon being by the sea, the grilled prawns was a delight. In fact, I couldn't really complain about the food at all. The food were simple, a fusion of Indo-Chinese food really, but nice. I finally went to bed extra early - Yangon is an hour and a half later than Malaysia in term of time difference. so by the time I finished dinner, I was ready to sleep.

The problem then was I woke up very early - 6am Malaysian time, which was 4.30 local. A quick flip of the TV channel, and a quick tweak on my slides while waiting for breakfast.

This morning's program was rather tight, starting at 8.30 and broke for lunch just after 1.30. Half an hour later, then it was time for some sightseeing which took us the whole afternoon. I will blog that on a later entry, but for now, I had just had dinner - with a cultural show thrown in. Rather sleepy. Will probably head for bed soon. Mind you, it was 10 am Malaysian time. But it was only 8.30 here now.

I'm Off

Even though it was 6.30 in the morning traffic leading out of Gombak via Jalan Genting Kelang was already building up. I don't mind the traffic, but the road bullies were really something I could do without.

Anyhow, I got myself to KL Sentral in plenty of time and now have already checked-in. Got my boarding pass and on the ERL to KLIA when I was writing this. I was still half-way through typing my slides though, even though the spine of the work has already been done. I might get some work done at the airport while waiting to board.

Update on Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 7:30PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Arrived much earlier and have since checked-in. Internet was rather slow, but available. Will update blog from time to time.