Thanks to scientific cooperation between University of Tartu and Vietnam, families in the faraway Asian nation unable to have offspring get help by artificial insemination. Doctoral students in Vietnam, in their turn, have handed us a unique opportunity to investigate genetic background to rare diseases.
According to University of Tartu pathological physiology professor and Vietnamese project head Sulev Kõks, cooperation with Hue University in Central Vietnam is aimed at improving medical education and practical skills of doctors, as well as in-service training.
«We have some Doctoral students in Vietnam whom we supervise. Also, we are involved in in-service training such as supervision of operations, introducing new health technologies, and teaching scientific methodologies. As an example of that, we have introduced external insemination at Hue University in Vietnam,» said Mr Kõks, now a visiting professor at said university. The cooperation is in its third year.
Indeed, artificial insemination was an option in Hanoi and the Hồ Chí Minh even before; still, said the professor, the vital technology is only applied in few places. In Central Vietnam, possibilities for artificial insemination used to be nonexistent.
«They had the equipment, but lacked the skills and the knowledge,» said Mr Kõks. The initial test tube baby was born in Hue in August 2014.
Barrenness rather widespread
At first glance one might think the nation of about 90 million, with families large as a rule, fertility would not be a problem. Even so, says Mr Kõks, barrenness is as frequent as in Europe. «But we do not know the exact data. The lack of vital information is one reason we are there – introducing genetic and epidemiological research as they do not have these locally at the moment.»
Mr Kõks said that the Vietnamese do not wait with having kids as long as folks over here. In the Buddhist nation, having large families is an honour. Still, even the young often encounter fertility problems and for them the concern is serious. «With no children in the family, for the cultural background they take it very much to heart. Obviously, having no kids is for them a deeper concern than in the West. Therefore, the cultural pressure to have babies is much stronger for them,» he explained.
The Vietnamese cooperation was triggered by a private university from there contacting Tartu. Thereafter, others joined in. Scientists from Tartu travelled to Vietnam and searched out the options for cooperation and the needs.
In addition to artificial insemination, Estonian doctors have supervised and helped Vietnamese with operations of endoprosthesis – the replacement – of joints.
Also, Vietnam features several groups of diseases not as well researched as in Estonia. Even more importantly, with the population significantly larger, it is much more productive to study rare diseases over there.
For instance, Hue orthopaedic hospital head Ho Duy Binh is doing his Doctoral thesis at University of Tartu regarding spread and genetics of osteogenesis imperfecta i.e. congenial fragile bones in Vietnam. His is finding out the existing patients and the mutations within the Vietnamese population so as to employ enhanced diagnosis and better cure.
Heritable sickness studied
Mr Kõks said the larger, often six-member Vietnamese families allow better research of such heritable diseases: «We have collected over a hundred families and are trying to find new mutations as while we have to do with a disease long known, new genetic mutations causing sickness are being discovered constantly.»
Next to artificial insemination, replaced joints and acquired trust, the Tartu scientists appreciate being able to teach Vietnamese the methodology of scientific research – such as epidemiological studies and separation and analysis of DNA and RNA.
In near future, cooperation will be launched with India. Aare Märtson of Tartu University has been over to India to demonstrate operations and the university has signed a contract with a major Indian enterprise to train doctors. «We are open to various forms of cooperation – if there’s interest for us to train them, and if at all reasonable, we are willing. Definitely, we are interested in various scientific and development project in health sciences,» said Mr Kõks.