2024-01-09 10:15:00
Between the Gulf of Thailand and the Cardamom mountain range, eight kilometers from the border of the land of smiles, the Cambodian province of Koh Kong is cruelly lacking in access to healthcare.
On the edge of this mangrove estuary system, the provincial hospital stands as a sometimes fragile bulwark in the face of pathologies requiring ever more specialized medical procedures.
Faced with this observation, three doctors and two hearing aid specialists have, once once more this year, loaded 200kg of medical equipment to lend a hand to their Cambodian colleagues. A humanitarian medical mission, under the aegis of Enfant du monde, an Antibes NGO, renewed since 2012.
In ten days, “twenty-five operations” were carried out by two doctors including a French Riviera and an anesthetist from Cannes. Photo DR.
A Cannes anesthetist at work
On the scalpel side, doctors Steeve de Bruyne and Olivier Coulet, respectively ENT specialists in Antibes and Marseille, and Michel Rossi, an anesthetist from Cannes, were at the helm. “In ten days of mission, we carried out twenty-five operations. The goal is to maximize the time we have on site in order to help as many patients as possible,” explains Doctor Michel Rossi.
And to add: “On certain consultations for thyroid problems, we sometimes see very large goiters, things that we no longer see in Europe these days. We worked in conditions that we saw forty years ago! exchanges with the local teams are going more than well. Their extreme dedication and this desire to participate in the mission touched me a lot. They are all concerned, the entire hospital. The Koh Kong teams select the patients so well that we were able to operate from the first day!”
However, transmission can only take place to a certain extent. “Even if we pass on the surgical and anesthetist technique, these are procedures that are too difficult for them to reproduce without us. But for simpler things, they can reuse what we have passed on,” admits Doctor Michel Rossi. “There would be surgeons, it would work because they have correct infrastructure even if they lack equipment, regrets the Cannes anesthesiologist. But this lack of surgeons also comes from the assassination of a quarter of the population in which intellectuals were decimated under Pol Pot.”
The hearing aid aspect of the mission was managed by the expert hands of Philippe Leconte and Antoine Forge, hearing aid specialists in Antibes for one and Marseille for the other.
In the hollow of the ear
“63 hearing aids were installed in less than 10 days. We would have had 100, we would have used them! All the Cambodian doctors helped us, they were very willing to accompany us and train with us”, confides Philippe Leconte. After the departure of the French caregivers, there is no question of leaving their Cambodian patients on the sidelines. “We trained the hospital teams in monitoring the devices for cleaning and troubleshooting. We also give them one year of battery per patient plus a stock in the hospital, since these hearing aids require changing the battery every months. In total, that represents 2,400 batteries!” specifies the hearing care professional.
Last Cambodian operation for Philippe Leconte: “I’m handing over, 2023, for me, it was the most beautiful mission. On site, we take a real slap. This will be followed up and Audika has confirmed its participation in the recurrence of the mission.”
It is also an opportunity to become aware of the profound impact of this humanitarian action. “I fitted a kid with hearing aids in 2019, he was around ten years old, and he only had one ear left which was only half functioning remembers Philippe Leconte. I met him once more this year, and his father told me that thanks to the device, he was able to go to school! It’s so rewarding, it’s what the mission is all regarding!”
Before confiding: “We experience such intense things, you leave with a friend, you come back with a friend, you leave with a friend and you come back with a brother.”
Photo DR.
“It has become a real meeting place”
“An ENT from Lanval of Cambodian origin, Sonanda Bailleux, regularly went to Koh Kong and asked me to go with her in 2012. During this first observation mission, seeing that the needs were considerable, particularly in the face of the glaring lack of infrastructure on site, it was a real shock. I convinced Audika to finance a real surgery there. After a blank year, from 2014, we went every year with an ENT, an anesthetist and a hearing aid specialist. From year to year, it has become a real event with a crazy queue when we arrive!”says Philippe Leconte.
The operation is financed by Audika, to the tune of 15,000 euros, excluding equipment. The Caisse d’Épargne is giving a boost of 2,000 euros. “On site, we left an audiometer provided by Audika which is worth 10,000 euros, the hearing aids cost 1,000 euros per device – a total of 63,000 euros – were financed by Oticon”details Philippe Leconte.
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