PEDIATRICS Vol. 40 No. 1 July 1967, pp. 127-129
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PEDIATRICS IN SOUTH VIETNAM

George W. Hallett M.D.

SOUTH VIETNAM is a country of 18 million people and approximately 1,000 native physicians, most of whom are in the military service. Civilian needs are met by 350 physicians, giving a doctor: population ratio of approximately 1:50,000. This figure is even more shocking in view of the inherent disease problems, augmented by wartime conditions. To help alleviate this shortage, a number of nations have sent paid medical or surgical units to assist the Vietnamese in their own provincial hospitals. England and Switzerland have sent small teams, and West Germany has sent a hospital ship. Iran, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia have also participated. The United States has many Army and Air Force medical teams who assist in civilian care, and, through the United States Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.), has financed a volunteer program which is administered by the American Medical Association. Transportation and living expenses are provided by the program. During the past 2 years, 24 to 32 United States volunteer physicians have been kept in the country at all times, serving in different provincial hospitals for 60-day periods.

The author was stationed at Long Xuyen Hospital, a 500-bed installation, serving the half million people of An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta. In addition to 10 Vietnamese physicians, this hospital has been staffed by an Australian surgical team during the past 2 years. These teams rotate every 90 days and usually consist of four or five doctors, four to five nurses, and laboratory and x-ray technicians.

Submitted on February 3, 1967
Accepted on February 20, 1967