Mr.Bounith is a student of medical university, he had a relation with Ven.Saito when he was dispatched Cambodia before, so they meet after nearly 10years.
He’d grown in a poor family, so he had much difficulty to study. Now he’s willing to become a doctor and make a medical care for rural people and children.
He said that now a day many doctors automatically examine people just for their salary, but the real medical should be holistic including the mental care of the patients.
He talked very passionate about medical care, and also was interested in our book of Buddha, so he took a positive attitude introducing one of his friends who live in the temple.
About the situation of hygiene and primary health care, he said its very important, and there are many disease that can prevent if we teach just the basic hygiene such as hand wash and nail cut.
He told us that he’d cooperate our hygiene project, and we discussed several times and had decided the basic topics about hygiene and first aid as below:
<Hygiene>
*Hand wash…Wash with soap as much as possible to remove bacteria. Show the pictures to learn how to wash about the detail.
*Tooth wash…Prevent tooth decay or bacteria. Show the pictures how to wash and remarks.
*Neil cut…Prevent a germ inside nail.
*Put on shoes…Prevent injure of the foots, also prevent a germ get inside from a wound.
*Purify the water…Boil tap water at least 15minutes, or purify with chemicals ‘SIERK MROM’ which can get in pharmacy easily. It is very important step and can prevent may disease.
*Cook foods…especially meat and fish must be well cooked.
These process should need cooperate of parents, so we should take a style that is easy to understand, and can see all of the family members continuously. It should be a brochure or signboard.
<First Aid>
*A burn…It’s better to put to the warm water than to cold water. It may be cured faster to put toothpaste to the affected parts.
*Bitten by snake…There is no official records but it estimated about 2,000people get suffered from snake bite, especially in the forest of rural area. Nor there is efficient urgent treatment so the patient should immediately get a doctor’s prescription of serum.
It is better to inform the kinds and appearance of the snake to identify the sort of serum.
Would like to make the identification chart with the manual.
*Wound…Indicate stop the bleeding
*High fever…Explain the difference between the Deng fever and Malaria by symptom. Aspirin is not work for Deng fever.
*Diarrhea…Pay attention about water supply. Explain how to make ORS, or how to deal with diarrhea accompanied by fever, or 3days continuously diarrhea. Nutritious advice, etc.
We told him that we’re going to make a brief summary along to the above contexts, and will brush up discussing together.
It would be helpful for local people who don’t have any access of medical care, if we introduce the basic knowledge of hygiene and first aid preventing the disease.
And also there might need the person who understand well about the knowledge, and lead the people to do it actually.
Anyway it was very good opportunity for us to have known and talked with him, and would like to keep relationship when he going to be a doctor in the future.