A TAIWANESE mobile medical team has returned to Honiara after successfully completing their mission to remote areas in South Malaita, Malaita Province last week.
Reports reaching the Solomon Star on Friday said team visited communities from Small Malaita, East and West Are’Are area from 5th to 12th June.
The local health staff in the three region assisted the visiting team to carry out their task.
During the tour the team provided free general outpatient service and specialist consultation for more than 1000 patients at Afio area health center, Tawaro, Takataka, Tarapaina, Riverside community, Rohinari and Rokera.
“It is difficult to access medical consultation from medical officers in our village, therefore we are very thankful to the Taiwan Government to send the team to us and provide medical services that we urgently need”, a local villager mentioned.
“We are touched that the Taiwanese doctors even went to our local houses to visit due to patient’s poor condition.”
During the 8-day medical tour, the team worked tirelessly from Monday to Sunday in order to take care as many patients as possible.
“Health for All is the motto of this team,” Dr. Wang Tse Lun said.
“The benefit of the patients is always our first priority.
“The most common complaints form local patients varies from skin diseae (bakua), scabies, gynecological diseases, cut wounds, chronic muscle skeletal diseases, otitis media effusion, cataracts, pterygium,” neurosurgeon specialist Dr. Wang Tse Lun observed.
During the medical tour, Dr. Lun was able to diagnose few brain tumor cases and to evaluate the patients who received brain tumor operation previously.
The team discovered that due to high humidity and poor hygiene environment, there were lots of patients suffering from ‘ring worm.’
And due to improper or delayed treatment, the high prevalence of otitis media effusion is causing patients to lose their hearing permanently.
Aside from providing outpatient clinic services, the team also educated patients how to keep body clean and dry, while alerting the signs of otitis media effusion.
The team also encouraged the community people to wear sunglasses and hat under the sun in order to reduce the possibility of cataracts and pterygium.
Toward the end of the medical mission, several medications were donated to local clinics, including antibiotics, painkillers and tropical cream for bakua and scabies.
Staff of local clinics expressed their appreciation for this kind gesture.
The 2018 Taiwan Mobile Medical Mission is a collaboration between R.O.C. (Taiwan) Embassy, Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), National Referral Hospital (NRH), provincial and constituency officers.
Members of the Taiwan Mobile Medical Mission this year include neurosurgeon specialist Dr. Wang Tse Lun, infectious disease specialist Dr. Kuo Shin-Huei, general practitioner Dr. Li Cheng Yu and Dr. Liu Kuan Fu, senior nurse Mr. Lin Yu Chau and Ms. Ho Yi-Hui.