best in the world

This morning's Public Health History class was focused on determinates of health. There are so many factors that go into determining the health of individuals: social, environmental, health care, and biological. All of these play into each other, so one has to be aware of many factors when deciding how to approach improving population health. The lecturer had many interesting things to say about determinates of health in Vietnam such as traffic, Agent Orange still lingering in the environment, water sanitation, gender roles and stigmas associated with diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

The afternoon was spent at a research facility called Institute of Social Development Studies (ISDS). We had a round-table discussion with one of the workers there about what the Institute does and some of its recent publications. Before the field trip, we read one of their studies on the stigma associated with those living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The report was fascinating and written in an accessible way so that anyone could read it, which is refreshing in a world of heavily-worded reports. The researcher we talked with was very open with us about their studies on maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS stigma, Vietnamese migrant workers and those Vietnamese living with disabilities, just to name a few. She said that the Institute partners with local NGOs to ensure that their research translates into action. If you are interested in learning more, you can poke around their website (which is accessible in English) www.isds.org.vn or feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Around eight o'clock, a handful of us walked over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to watch the guard take the flag down.

 A procession of guards marched onto the scene to the national anthem.

It was such a neat moment to witness. I've seen so many US Military marches, parades and drills, so it was great to see how another country does it. Just so you know, it's pretty much the same.

The other thing that was great about being at the Mausoleum is that everyone brought their babies. I worked for a solid fifteen minutes to get this one baby to notice me, but, every time he saw me, he just stared up at me with this look of complete confusion. Eventually, his father placed him down right in front of me. I managed to get him to nearly smile by tickling his foot, but he just kept giving me blank stares. I did decide that Vietnamese babies are the cutest babies in the world. Sorry all other nations.