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Village-Based Primary Health Care in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

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Abstract

This paper describes the first year of an ongoing village health care and economic development project in the Krong Buk district of Dak Lak province in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The project serves 21 villages with a total population of just over 15,000. Most belong to ethnic minority groups. Physicians from the province capital of Boun Me Thuot were trained by a multi-disciplinary team of American health care workers to be trainers and supervisors of 21 village health care workers (VHWs). Two months later, a VHW from each village was trained in primary and preventive health care by the physician-supervisors. Since this initial training, each VHW has been provided with materials, medicines and monthly supervision by the physician-supervisors. The health care component has been complemented by an economic development project based on a system of small loans. Data from the first year of monthly reports and from a baseline survey are presented in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 777 South Mills, Madison, WI, 53715

    Bruce Barrett

  2. Office of International Health, University of Wisconsin—Madison, School of Medicine, USA

    Judith Ladinsky & Nancy Volk

Authors
  1. Bruce Barrett
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  2. Judith Ladinsky
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  3. Nancy Volk
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Barrett, B., Ladinsky, J. & Volk, N. Village-Based Primary Health Care in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Journal of Community Health 26, 51–71 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026589131476

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