Saint Joseph Hospital's Sung-Ho Song, M.D., Radiologist, recently returned from his second week long medical mission to Rajin, North Korea, a city ravaged by famine and economic hardship. Dr. Song provided free medical care to patients and taught local physicians how to use X-ray equipment and perform ultrasound procedures.
During his first trip to Rajin two years ago, he and a group of nurses, dentists and physicians helped lay the foundation for a medical building and bread factory. "It was very important to build the bread factory, which now produces over 9,000 loaves of bread each day, because the people of North Korea suffer from severe malnutrition," says Dr. Song.
Tuberculosis (TB), a disease directly linked to malnutrition, is a serious health concern for North Koreans. In healthy individuals, the immune system can stop the spread of TB and recovery is almost certain. However, the infection can be fatal to people such as North Koreans whose immune systems are weakened by malnutrition. Additionally, they do not have access to needed vaccinations.
Last year, Dr. Song's medical team purchased basic X-ray equipment for a TB Sanitarium. When Dr. Song and the medical team returned to Rajin this year, they bought a printer for an ultrasound machine and an additional unit capable of taking fluoroscopy images of the chest to better screen for TB.
"The X-ray machine is very vintage and old-fashioned compared to the equipment that we use in the U.S.," he says. "It has no intensifier and the fluoroscope must be viewed in the darkroom; however, it is so much better at detecting TB and other health problems than the previous equipment."
During his recent visit, Dr. Song showed local physicians how to take X-rays and perform ultrasounds as well as interpret test results. "We were busy everyday with lectures, X-rays, ultrasounds and caring for patients," says Dr. Song. "It was a tiring but very fulfilling seven days."
Dr. Song began his humanitarian work in 1994 when he visited Mozdok, a small town in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania in southern Russia. Since that time, he has returned to Russia six times to participate in medical mission work. Dr. Song also traveled several times to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, to provide medical care to indigenous groups. |
