Maintaining the medical "shield" in border regions.
Despite having only a few months left until retirement, medical officer Vo Van Rol remains dedicated to working alongside the Tuyen Binh commune health station, directing and coordinating medical examinations and treatments, and implementing community health programs.
Medical officer Vo Van Rol has dedicated many years to providing healthcare to people in border regions.
Born in 1966 in Vinh Chau A commune, Tan Hung district (Long An province before the merger), he followed in his family's footsteps in the medical field. After graduating as a medical assistant from Long An Medical College in 1986, he worked at the Vinh Chau A commune health station. In 1990, he was assigned to be the Head of the Vinh Loi commune health station; and in 1996, he continued to hold the position of Head of the Tuyen Binh Tay commune health station, Vinh Hung district. From July 2025 to the present, he has been the Deputy Head of the Tuyen Binh commune health station, Tay Ninh province.
Recalling his most memorable period, medical officer Vo Van Rol remembers the early years of working in Tuyen Binh Tay border commune, when facilities were scarce, transportation was difficult, there was no electricity or clean water, and the medical staff was very limited. At that time, the commune health station was just a temporary building with a few simple functional rooms, but it had to provide healthcare for a large area.
At that time, the area was experiencing many infectious diseases such as acute diarrhea, dengue fever, neonatal tetanus, and childhood malnutrition. Single-handedly managing the health station, he both examined and treated patients, and went from household to household to promote hygiene and disease prevention, and encourage people to get their children fully vaccinated.
“Working at the commune level, especially in border communes, health workers not only had to examine patients but also go down to the grassroots level to assess people's health, monitor their condition, and disseminate information on disease prevention. There were periods of scarcity, but we still tried our best to stay in the area so that people could feel secure,” shared medical officer Vo Van Rol.
People in border areas are increasingly raising their awareness of healthcare thanks to the outreach efforts of medical officer Vo Van Rol.
In those years, the main means of transportation were small boats or walking across the fields. Some days, he would travel dozens of kilometers through mangrove forests and wade through water to reach households in remote areas.
The most difficult task was vaccine preservation, given the limited resources and equipment. To maintain a safe temperature, he had to buy ice blocks from the district, dig holes, cover them with rice husks to keep them cold, and spend many sleepless nights monitoring the storage temperature. Thanks to his perseverance, the vaccination rate in the locality gradually increased, and people's awareness of disease prevention also improved significantly.
Not only excelling in preventive healthcare, medical officer Vo Van Rol also directly provided emergency care and treated many severe cases at the facility. When cases of acute diarrhea suspected of being cholera occurred in the area under conditions of medical shortage, he promptly isolated the outbreak, guided the treatment of water sources, organized emergency care, provided rehydration and treatment, contributing to controlling the epidemic. During the years when the area was affected by floods, the image of the medical officer on duty through the night, assisting in childbirth under the dim light of oil lamps, has been deeply etched in the memories of many people in the border region.
After many years of dedicated service to the area, healthcare in Tuyen Binh Tay commune has seen many positive changes: the child immunization rate has reached over 98%, 100% of pregnant women receive prenatal care, and many dangerous diseases are effectively controlled. In 2011, the Tuyen Binh Tay Commune Health Station was recognized as meeting national standards for healthcare.
Dedicated to their profession, wholeheartedly devoted to their patients.
After many years of working at the commune-level health station, for him it has been a journey of accompanying the people in the border region - a place that still faces many hardships but is full of human kindness.
What earns Doctor Vo Van Rol the respect of his colleagues and the public is not only his expertise but also his sense of responsibility and dedication to his profession. Whether day or night, whenever there is an emergency or the public needs urgent medical assistance, he is always there.
Mr. Tran Van Don (residing in Tuyen Binh commune) said: “Everyone here respects Doctor Rol. I am elderly and have health problems, so I frequently visit the clinic for check-ups and health monitoring. He is very dedicated and provides thorough guidance on how to use medicine and prevent diseases, so everyone trusts him.”
Medical officer Vo Van Rol diligently examines people in the border commune of Tuyen Binh.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong, a pharmacy officer at the Tuyen Binh Commune Health Station, shared: “Mr. Rol is very responsible in his work and diligently provides professional guidance to the staff in the unit. Having worked in grassroots healthcare for many years, he never shies away from difficulties and always prioritizes patients.”
Constantly improving his professional skills, medical officer Rol proactively learns to meet the increasingly high demands for healthcare from the people. According to the Head of the Tuyen Binh Commune Health Station, Le Hong Sang, throughout his career, regardless of his position, medical officer Vo Van Rol has always upheld a high sense of responsibility, dedication to his profession, and close attention to the needs of the community.
"As the Deputy Head of the Tuyen Binh Commune Health Station, medical officer Vo Van Rol has provided excellent advice to the unit in implementing national health programs, managing non-communicable diseases, and preventing and controlling epidemics in the locality," commented Mr. Le Hong Sang.
After many years of service, what still concerns medical officer Vo Van Rol is the operating conditions of healthcare in remote and border communes. According to him, the health sector needs to continue investing in equipment for screening and early diagnosis to improve the quality of primary healthcare for the people. "Those of us working in grassroots healthcare only hope that people receive better healthcare right in their local area," shared medical officer Vo Van Rol.
For his enduring contributions to grassroots healthcare, medical officer Vo Van Rol has received numerous awards from the Ministry of Health and local authorities. In 2009, he was awarded the "For the People's Health" commemorative medal by the Ministry of Health. In 2023, he was awarded the commemorative medal by the Vietnam Association of the Elderly for his significant contributions to the care and protection of the elderly.
In the challenging border region, the dedication of grassroots healthcare workers like Doctor Vo Van Rol not only contributes to maintaining the "shield" of primary healthcare for the people but also serves as an example for the younger generation in the medical field to learn from and emulate. These persistent contributions continue to strengthen faith in the frontline healthcare system, the closest and most responsive to the people.
Source: https://baotayninh.vn/y-si-vung-bien-het-long-vi-suc-khoe-nhan-dan-148268.html
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