On Friday we had a very interesting meeting with the people at the Vansemberuu office, which is the only other project we have learned about thus far that is working directly with traditional medicine. The program was so fascinating that I am going to outline the program for you. The background of the program is that is it funded by the Nippon foundation, a Japanese non-profit that started by promoting consciousness of marine preservation and regulating shipping lanes. The project they started in Mongolia, called Vansemberuu involves providing nomadic herder families with the skills and medicine to take care of certain illnesses without having to travel all the way to the county or province center.
Vansemberuu developed a medical kit that contains 10 types of traditional Mongolia medicines, a thermometer, antiseptic, bandages, Band-Aids, and most importantly a healthy living guidebook. The representative we spoke to assured us that the guide was written in simple Mongolian to accommodate people who may not have received much education, big font, and as simple as possible. It also contained quick reference guides for each medicine including clear pictures of the ailment for which they should be taken (runny nose, coughing, etc.), directions and restrictions for usage. I basically understood the general idea of the pamphlets even though I don’t speak Mongolian so that’s pretty promising. The also explained that only a small part of the thick guide was dedicated to the traditional medicine treatments, and over 75% of the book was dedicated to more general aspects of herder life. Vansemberuu also runs trainings for doctors and local families in traditional medicine and health living so they have a deeper understanding of the tools provided in the medical kit.
The family medicine kit created and distributed by Vansemberuu. The colorful boxes to the right are the traditional medicines (packaged in plastic inside the cardboard boxes for the first time ever) and the easy to read guide.
While the kit itself is already really great on its own, the distribution model Vansemberuu I think is the most notable and unique aspect of the project. The local doctor, who receives a stipend from Vansemberuu to promote the project in addition to his or her existing responsibilities, distributes the medical kits to rural herder families at no cost. The doctor decides which families in the county should receive the kit based on need, desire, and whether they will pay for the medicines the use. A few times per year the doctor visits the families who have the kits to do check ups, and also replace the medicine in the kit that the family has used since his/her last visit at a small fee. The representative called it a “use now, pay later” system which I think is really creative and fits the needs of the herders. It provides them with free knowledge about traditional medicine and living healthier lifestyles through the training and guidebook, and spend money only when necessary, to replace the medicine they finished using. The doctors also purposely visit families during the two times a year when have money from selling their goods—the spring because from cashmere, the beginning of winter from selling meat. Further, the “pay later” aspect of the model serves both to increase the sustainability of the program by reducing costs, but also so that the herders learn to value health care.
This is an issue the Nomadicare’s sum health project has run into as well. During the week-long hospital training Nomadicare provides the medical professionals who attend the traditional medicine trainings with enough medicine to treat 10 people with the new skills they’ve learned. While the medicine is a good start, it is not a sustainable method of making sure the sum hospital always has the medicine available. A more effective option would be to request a small payment from the patient. However, since the care is being given at the sum hospital and there the current health care laws states that services at sum hospitals must be free, a fee for the traditional medicine cannot be charged. Vansemberuu’s operations do not fit that rule because they occur outside the sum hospital.
Sas and Oyun, General Manager of Vensemberuu, share information about their projects.
Our meeting lasted almost two hours we were so interested in Vansemberuu’s activities and it was really great to finally hear about a program that is directly engaging, strengthening and promoting traditional Mongolian medicine—they have currently given medical kits to 21,000 families and operate in 35 sum (countries) in 8 aimags (provinces). The only concern we have is the project is being turned over to the Ministory of Health in February and I hope the transition goes smoothly! We also see ample opportunity for us to collaborate, especially with the trainings that Vansemberuu provides doctors.
