SINGAPORE, VIETNAMESE ARMED FORCES CONDUCT INAUGURAL JOINT MEDICAL MISSION

A delegation of 24 men and women from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Medical Corps conducted the first Joint Medical Mission with the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) in Vinh Phuc province, Hanoi, from 15 to 18 Apr.

As the first collaboration between the two militaries, the Joint Medical Mission involves doctors, dentists, and other health-care professionals working together to set up a clinic to provide the villagers of Vinh Phuc province with primary health care, dental care, ophthalmology, and optometry services.

Chief of Medical Corps Rear-Admiral (RADM) (Dr) Kang Wee Lee co-officiated at the opening ceremony of the SAF-VPA Joint Medical Mission on 15 Apr with the Director General of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence's Military Medicine Department, Major-General (MG) Vu Quoc Binh.

Speaking at the ceremony, RADM (Dr) Kang said: "As fellow ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) members, Singapore and Vietnam have always shared friendly bilateral relations and seek ways for mutual cooperation.

"The SAF Medical Corps have always valued opportunities for mutual learning and professional interactions in the domain of military medicine, and we are indeed very pleased to partner the VPA in this Joint Medical Mission."

He outlined the three main thrusts of the cooperation between the two militaries as: firstly, professional exchanges in the domain of biodefence and bio-surveillance; secondly, sharing of experience in the area of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), and peacekeeping operations; and thirdly, the conduct of a joint medical mission between the two military medical services.

During the mission, the combined SAF and VPA medical teams treated about 3,100 Vietnamese from the Vinh Phuc province.

One of the challenges faced by the SAF team was language. Said Military Expert 1 (ME1) Nicholas Choy, an optometry medic: "Not being able to speak Vietnamese meant that communication was a problem However, we adapted to the situation learning a bit of Vietnamese - and we were able to cope with the difficulty." He described the joint mission as "an eye-opening experience".

Mr Edmund Lim, an optometrist from the SAF Military Medicine Institute Vision Performance Centre, found the joint mission a fulfilling one in spite of the difficulties faced. He said: "The difficulties are all easily overcome when we see the smile on the faces of the Vietnamese whom we have helped. It's all worth it."

Team Leader, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (Dr) Adrian Tan said the mission went extremely well, adding that the two medical teams had "come together and overcome language and cultural barriers to provide the best possible medical care to the local community". He added: "I am happy to see that my team, together with their Vietnamese counterparts, has worked extremely well together."

The joint medical mission concluded with a handing over and taking over ceremony of the surplus medical supplies on the morning of 19 Apr.