Studying water access conditions in Vietnam's hospitals

Change of scenery guaranteed for Gaëlle Minger, Sandra Gribi and Maxence Dellacherie. While other vacationers were spending a quiet holiday at the beach, they roamed Ho Chi Minh City and its suburbs visiting... hospitals.

During eight weeks the students conducted their work, subsidized by Ingénieurs du Monde and falling within the framework of the EssentialTech program at the Cooperation and Development Center (CODEV) at EPFL. It builds on the RESCIF partnership and focuses on the development of water purification kits specifically tailored to the context of hospitals in emerging and developing countries.

Not always welcome
The three Life Sciences and Bioengineering students went to Vietnam to conduct a preliminary - yet crucial - step in this important project. They had to make an assessment of the access to drinking water in hospitals at the capital and its surrounding areas, as well as to estimate their needs. "We quickly realized that the subject raised rather sensitive points, stated Maxence Dellacherie. The quality control of hospitals’ water is governed by recent legislation and it was not always easy for us to get the required authorization to conduct our analysis ..."

Indeed, after visiting the hospitals that did open their doors to our students, they got to the conclusion that, in general, water does not meet the health standards they had chosen to test. "Patients buy their own bottles of drinking water outside," explained Sandra Gribi. Obviously, when it comes to weakened and vulnerable people, access to drinking water is much more important.

Finding the right people
Despite several months of preparation with the support of Felippe de Alencastro - from EPFL’s Central Environmental Laboratory - and after making preliminary contacts with Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Technology, the students still had to face some contingencies. "Identifying the right people to support us during the process and while carrying out the analysis was not an easy task, said Gaëlle Minder. In addition, we did not expect to meet such administrative barriers. I hope that the contacts we made will remain useful in the project’s subsequent phases." The three travelers also agree on the necessity of thorough groundwork in addition to simply establishing a contact. “We would have saved a lot of time if some steps had begun before our arrival," said Sandra.

However, the students were able to rely on the unwavering commitment of their Vietnamese colleagues. "I was impressed and touched by their dedication and kindness," continued Gaëlle. Bacteriological analyses of the collected samples were carried out in laboratories with equipment described by Maxence as "surprisingly varied and numerous." However, there were significant constraints due to the ambient temperature - over 30 Celsius degrees - and to the lack of air-conditioned spaces, which hindered the conservation of some products as well as the maintenance of the equipment in sterile conditions.

Back to reality
"After spending four years in the Swiss academic environment, adjusting to the reality of the field was not easy, especially within the context of a culture at odds with ours," said Gaelle - before adding how the change of scenery has proved rewarding. Vietnamese hospitality undoubtedly accounts for many of their positive memories of the time spent doing the internship. For Sandra it was the impromptu performance of a song in an evening, and for Maxence it was the tasting of a dish of "mini -chicken" that later proved to have been made of... rat meat.

Towards a large-scale project
The important work carried out by Gaëlle, Sandra and Maxence has laid the groundwork for the realization of the project. The road is still long, and all three would be happy to share their experience with the next candidates for an internship in Vietnam. "This first step allows us to move forward," said Klaus Schönenberger, head of the EssentialTech program at CODEV and originator of the internship. Based on the evidence gathered on site, he was indeed able to obtain, with the assistance of the Dragon Bleu Foundation, the subsidy for a job position to conduct the project’s next phases. "The issue of access to drinking water in hospital is not unique to Vietnam: it also happens in Africa, he said. The purification kits that we eventually want to develop fall within the EssentialTech approach: adjusted to the context where their usage will take place, robust, cheap and easy to be kept in working order by the local staff. "

To some extent, the three students can pride themselves in having set the foundations for a critical project and in having initiated a concrete collaboration among members of the RESCIF network, EPFL and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.