MEDICAL ACCESS in MONGOLIA.
A storyline about Post Communistic Medical Service in Mongolia
In March 2017 I've visited a secondary level district hospital; a very old communistic system hospital. The top floor area was dedicated to traditional medicine; acupuncture, cupping, therapy.
Access to the essentials for healthy living including healthcare, is a struggle for those living outside Mongolia's capital Ulaanbataar.
Continuing population growth due to migration to the city is creating new environmental challenges for the area, including air and water pollution, flood damage and water supply shortages.
Ulaanbaatar and suburb areas are increasingly suffering from traffic congestion and mining production. Measures are in place to restrict the number of vehicles on the road, but air pollution is worsening year-by-year and has an impact on health.
Mining production has accounted for around 50% of the gross industrial product in Mongolia since 1998. Dust-induced chronic bronchitis and pneumoconiosis currently account for the largest relative share (67.8%) of occupational diseases in Mongolia, and cases are increasing annually.
A growing body of evidence links air pollution to ill health and the development of non-communicable diseases.
A doctor confers with her colleague during work at the secondary level district hospital outside of Ulaanbaatar
I shot this #miner in a district hospital while visiting post communistic medical service in #Mongolia in March 2017
A doctor performs a check-up and regular blood pressure monitoring on a patient at the secondary level district hospital outside of Ulaanbaatar
I shot this coal-worker in a district #hospital while working on a project about post communistic #medical service in #Mongolia in March 2017.
The patient was treated again days later with the same cupping procedure. Within a week, he was able to walk without any aid.
He was treated with conservative traditional medicine treatment to control pain and swelling. After the first treatment, his doctor reported pain was gone and noticed that the patient had more flexibility and motion to walk with assistance.
The patient was treated again days later with the same cupping procedure.
Within a week, he was able to walk without any aid.
In winter, coal stoves and power plants choke Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, with smoke—and lung disease. Late afternoon at -26C The pollution is worst in Ulaanbaatar's harsh winters, when people heat their homes—including the circular tents known as gers—with coal. Here the late afternoon sun cuts through the haze of smoke and diesel fumes in Ulaanbaatar's city center.
Ulaanbaatar has grown rapidly and in an unplanned way in recent years, as nomadic herders have left the countryside and settled.