Solving the Current Healthcare Woes: Effective Clinic and Internet Technology

Current Situation:

There is only a temporary clinic located in the house of a village family that serves the entire community. The nearest hospital is in Gorhka, which is some 5 to 7 days trek away. The Nepali government provides their assistance by giving medications to the village.

However, it was an uphill task to find a good doctor who is willing to station in the long-term in such a desolated village faraway from home when there are plenty of better-paying opportunities in Kathmandu. Occasionally, some foreign medically-trained volunteers will go to the Sama village and offer their expertise by providing consultation and prescribing appropriate medicine to the villagers who are sick.

There had been 2 medical missions to Sama village in 2009:
1. From April - May 2009: Led by 1 Malaysian and 2 Danish doctors.
2. In December 2009: Led by 1 American doctor.

Immediate Plans:

1. To make use of internet technology in consultation.
In December 2009, the American doctor who had visited Sama Village proposed the use of internet and web-camera technology to facilitate foreign volunteer doctors based in Kathmandu, to give consultation to the villagers who need medical attention. Since then, discussions with the doctors had resulted in positive outcomes, as they are very interested to provide assistance. Hence, the setup of an internet infrastructure to support this innovative process with the kind assistance from the right medical experts, will definitely benefit the village, just as many rural villages in other parts of Nepal did. This will serve to complement the traditional face-to-face consultations. What's better, with the basic internet infrastructure set up and in place, there are further potential to use this technology to enhance education and as a source of livelihood (e.g. Internet cafe for foreign trekkers, which will be managed by villagers)
2. To build a clinic equipped with the necessary medicine and medical equipment.

3. To retain good and trained medical staff.

4. To support foreign medical/nursing volunteers in providing healthcare training to the local people.

Topmost: A Malaysian and a Danish volunteer doctor giving medical consultation to the villagers.
2nd from top: A sick child was fed with medicine by Lama Ula Jigme.
Middle: The volunteer doctors attending to a local monk.
Bottom: An old woman suffers from goitre, a condition caused by a lack of iodine in the diet, which results in the swelling of the thyroid gland.