Dr. PHAM NGOC THACH - LATE MINISTER OF HEALTH
Prof. DO NGUYEN Phuong
Former Minister of Health
On November 7th, 1968, at a location near the Vietnam-Cambodia border, along the riverside of Vam Co Dong River, Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach as Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at that time, who was assigned by the Communist Party and the Government to be responsible for the healthcare activities in the southern battlefield, has fallen in the arms of his beloved comrades on his homeland where he had a deep love for it.
Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach was born on May 7th, 1909 in Quy Nhon province, within an intellectual and patriotic family. During his teenage years, he followed his family and attended a primary school in Phan Thiet city, and later moved to Hanoi to study at the Albert Sarraut high school. He was very smart and assiduous, always among top students in the class, and passed the exams at high position. He played soccer in the after-school period. .
After having obtained the baccalaureate certificate in 1928, he attended the University of Medicine in Hanoi. He moved to France at the end of the 4th academic year and successfully graduated in 1934 as a medical doctor. On the basis of his excellent study achievements, he was appointed as assistant specialized in lung diseases and tuberculosis at the Faculty of Medicine and at the Hospital Laennec in Paris for 2 years. He came back home at the end of 1936 and got married to Marie Louise, a French nurse working with him in Paris, in 1937.
He owned a private cabinet specializing in tuberculosis, which is located at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, No 202 (formerly called Chasseloup – Laubat avenue) in Sai Gon. The cabinet was equipped with an X-ray machine, which was the only one of this kind of medical machines at that time, therefore, it has attracted a lot of patients. He noted that the majority of tuberculosis patients were poor laborers who needed to be cherished and supported without conditions. Apart from providing free medical cares, he helped patients in transportation and accommodations. For critically ill patients, he drove car directly to their homes to give care until the patients passed their critical period. His reputation spread rapidly throughout Sai Gon and southern provinces. People said that Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach was practicing ethical medicine and not merely medical career. His virtue was as great as his talent. He was not an ordinary treating doctor, he would definitely have a great career. People also called him ‘a doctor of the poor who possessed the compassion of the Bodhisattva’.
Via daily contact with the poor and the workers in Sai Gon - Cho Lon region, as well as the democratic movement in the South during the period of 1936-1939, the period of Popular Front, he developed a deep love for the countrymen and the homeland. He realized that the doctor’s dedication alone was not adequate to get rid his patients of poverty as long as they were oppressed and exploited by the colonialists. Only a revolution aimed to liberate the nation, the people of Vietnam could lead to a prosperous and happy life.
Leaving all of his wealth behind, he sought out to participate in the revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party. His home and private cabinet became a safe shelter to nurture and hide communist soldiers and other patriots, including a well-known comrade HA HUY Giap. He not only cared for the communist comrades but also learnt the policy and guidelines of the Communist Party on revolutionary struggle. He was gradually enlightened and voluntarily participated in the struggle movements under the leadership of the Communist Party.
After the defeat of the uprising in the South, namely Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, the Communist Party decided to recede in secret. He was assigned to operate in the illegal and semi-legal movements of workers in Sai Gon. He then made a great contribution to the establishment of secret associations in Sai Gon and functioned as a Party member in all secret associations in Sai Gon - Cho Lon region.
In March 1945, he was admitted to the Communist Party, and assigned by the Southern Party Committee to be responsible for assembling the young into an organization as a support for the revolution. This organization was called the "Southern Young Pioneers" under the leadership of the Communist Party Committee consisting of 3 comrades, among them, Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach was the Secretary.
The Southern Young Pioneers has organized numerous and diverse activities attracting hundreds of thousands of young people to join the movement. During a Southern Young Pioneers’ swearing ceremony held in Mr. Thuong's garden (currently called Tao Dan), he has given a very forceful speech calling for all classes of young people to participate in the fight against the colonism and militarism, and in the national liberation and reconstruction.
On August 24, 1945, the Southern Party Committee officially came out to the public. The glorious hammer-shaped flag full of blood of the revolutionary martyrs who died in the rebellions in 1930 and in the uprising in the South, namely Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, in 1940, was now fluttering in the sky of Sai Gon. Everyone was very surprised to see a hammer-shaped flag hanging over right on the roof of his private cabinet. They gathered to look at the flag with an infinite pride.
On the morning of August 25th, 1945, Sai Gon city was flooded with red yellow-starred flags and with hammer-shaped flags. Sai Gon has now belonged to the people thank to a great contribution of the Southern Youth Pioneers under the leadership of Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach.
During the same period, on August 27th, 1945, the National Committee for Vietnam Liberation organized a meeting in the Viet Bac war zone and decided to reform itself into the Provisional Government with the participation of some patriotic personalities. He was appointed as the first Minister of Health of an independent country and simultaneously as a member of the Southern People's Committee in charge of foreign affairs. He has joined the the Vietnamese Government’s delegation in negotiations with the French Government’s representatives.
In the end of 1946, he went to the North and was appointed as Deputy Minister of the President Palace as well as Special Envoy of the Government, who was sent to neighboring countries and some European countries to present the Communist Party’s and the Government’s point of views on our resistance war against French colonism.
In 1948, he was appointed as Head of the Government delegation in the South and was later elected as permanent member of the Southern Party Committee as well as Chairman of the Administrative Resistance Committee in Sai Gon - Cho Lon region.
In any given task, Dr PHAM NGOC Thach has demonstrated his absolute loyalty to the Communist Party and the people, a strong will to fight for the national interest and a strong spirit to overcome difficulties.
In the middle of 1953, he returned to the North and was assigned as Chief of the Party’s Medical Committee in charge of Safety Zone Health (namely ATK in Vietnamese) as well as Director of the Dispensary No 303. Besides healthcare activities, he also took part in other political and diplomatic activities of the Government.
In 1954, peace was restored in one half of the country. Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach was firstly appointed as Deputy Minister, and in 1958 as Minister of Health and Party Secretary of the Health Ministry until his death for the homeland. He accepted the social responsibility in an extremely difficult situation. The previous government had bequeathed a legacy of problems on health and diseases among the people: a high number of infected patients and deaths due to epidemics, infectious diseases and sexually transmitted diseases; a high rate of pregnancy in combination with poor child healthcare; and a low life expectancy.
How to effectively deal with these complicated health problems is a big concern for Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach. He tried his best to learn from the former Soviet Union’s experience and to carefully study the Communist Party's points of views and Uncle Ho's ideology on health care in parallel with on-field surveys in many different localities. He has proposed five overarching principles on healthcare which remain valuable until today and are considered as lodestars for healthcare activities in Viet Nam. These principles have clearly stated that healthcare had to be for the production, the combat and the laborers, and the most important mission of the healthcare system was the preventive medicine: treatment efficacy was used to boost medical prevention activities; modern medicine was harmoniously integrated with traditional medicine in all aspects of healthcare system; and healthcare activities had to serve the people.
From these principles, he has suggested a series of specific measures, and the most important among them was to build a primary healthcare network in rural areas. He was very determined and incredibly patient in this task because at that time, healthcare workers at the commune were not entitled to have subsistence expenses or if available, it was just a small amount of money covered by the cooperative. So far, we have developed a widespread primary healthcare network from the central, provincial and district levels to the commune and ward essentially thank to his tremendous work of merit. Concerning the hygiene and disease prevention, he advocated mobilizing the people to participate in sanitation movements, such as three types of ‘clean’, four types of extermination, and clean communal villages. He was inspired with the intradermal vaccination which showed a great efficacy in disease prevention and a great capacity in saving the vaccine. In 1959, a polio epidemic occured in Hanoi, eliciting big concern for many families. He decided to use the Sabin vaccine, made in the former Soviet Union, for children and sent Dr. DONG THUY Nguyen over there to learn the producing process. We are now striving to eliminate polio in children from the social life.
In 1964, he published a book entitled ‘Mastering the Principle of Preventive Medicine in Healthcare’, citing the social foundations for disease prevention in Vietnam and seven experience lessons. This book has enriched the theory and practice of preventive medicine in our country.
In 1965, at a conference celebrating 10 years of establishment of the primary healthcare system in rural areas, everyone strongly agreed that although the people's life was still difficult, the epidemics was well under control, the mortality decreased rapidly, life expectancy gradually increased, the primary healthcare network developed largely in rural areas, and the number of healthcare workers has considerably increased in just over 10 years.
While the reconstruction of the North was taking place in the peace, the anti-American resistance war spread throughout the whole country. The Prime Minister ordered to shift the healthcare activities in the peacetime to the wartime. He and his colleagues at the Ministry of Health have proposed many pragmatic and effective measures, such as intensive courses on surgery during wartime for all healthcare officials. The American enemy relied on aircraft, we relied on a flexible organization. When the enemy destroyed a place, the healthcare network at that place was required to be able to solve emergency problems for the injured soldiers. In order to fulfil this requirement, he decided to deploy medical staff and equipment to places where fierce battlefields occurred.
Despite a busy schedule of tasks in the North, he reserved a lot of time and efforts to provide manpower and resources for the South. He established an agency, so called Department No 1, to provide manpower, medical equipment and medications, especially healthcare training for the southern battlefield. At that time, different opinions existed about the training time. However, he decided to recruit experienced nurses, mostly from the South and a few from the North, for a special training course to become medical doctors in just one year. These ‘medical doctors’ could be quickly sent to the battlefield. The reality proved that it was a precise decision.
He also advocated encouraging recent graduate doctors to serve long-term at the battlefield from Tri - Thien – Hue up to the Delta Mekong, and organizing many training courses on wartime surgery at the University of Medicine in Hanoi. Well-known doctors were sent to the battlefield namely B2 for short-term services. University pharmacists were annually sent to the battlefield to ensure medications for the soldiers and people.
In 1967, he published a book entitled ‘Healthcare Missions During Wartime’, which was written in French, to introduce to the whole world the Vietnamese healthcare system’s experience in dealing with the American Empire’s destructive war, and condemning the American Empire’s atrocities on the Vietnamese. During that period of time, he also took on the role of chairman of an investigative committee on American Empire’s war crimes.
In 1968, the war in the South became fiercer while a lot of health problems and diseases emerged in the revolutionary troop and cadre, as well as in the population. With a deep longing for homeland, he passionately wanted to return to the battlefield in the South to directly examine the situation, thereby proposing effective solutions to help people. With the approval of Uncle Ho, the Party Central Committee and the Government, he was ready for the trip to the battlefield that was also his beloved homeland. He trained himself and disguised, and by the end of August 1968, he was already on the battlefield. In an animated ambiance of the liberated region, he was passionate with the work regardless of day and night and in defiance of lethal bombs and bullets. He considered being on the battlefield and devoting himself to the liberation of the South, his beloved homeland, as the greatest honor and happiness in his life.
He spent a lot of time working with hospitals, dispensaries and surgical teams. He convened a regional healthcare meeting to discuss the expertise and find ways to overcome difficulties, as well as to propose new solutions to quickly respond to the requirements of an increasingly fierce war and to develop plans for the post-war period.
While the tasks were in progress and great ambitions for the liberation of the South and for the establishment of the people’s healthcare system were being nurtured, how painful it was on November 7, 1968, Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach has laid down. A few hours earlier, he was still instructing the next day's tasks to his colleagues.
He has permanently gone away at the age of 59 while still being in good health and full of energy and enthusiasm to contribute much more to the revolution and the healthcare system. Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach's life was not long, but he left us with a wealth of ideology and practical lessons that we have not yet been able to exploit and serve the healthcare system..
Upon hearing the death of Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach, Uncle Ho sat quietly for a while, while his friends, colleagues and patients have cried for the loss of a beloved relative and a benefactor.
35 years have passed since the day Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach gave up his life on the anti-American battlefield. The South as his homeland has now been liberated and the country has been reunified. The people are rebuilding the country for the purpose of wealthy habitants and powerful country, and a society of justice and civilization as he always dreamed of. Our healthcare system is continuously developing in favor of his beautiful wishes.
In memory of Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach, we commemorate a patriotic intellectual among the first revolutionary intellectual class, who have loyally followed the Communist Party, and who have devoted all their lives to the revolutionary cause and to the healthcare mission.
Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach is a distinguished minister of Health, a great strategist of the healthcare system, whose name and career are closely associated with each step of growth and achievements of the healthcare system.
He is a visionary scientist who has a long-term vision in terms of organization and expertise levels. He proposed that scientific research should rely on the concrete situation in Viet Nam and have its own pathway. We would be left behind if we had followed the pathway of developed countries. .
He is a physician of the people who has a golden heart for the patients. It is himself who has contributed the most to the development of a medical specialty, so called ‘tuberculosis and lung diseases’. He is the greatest master of this specialty, who created essential factors for the success of tuberculosis prevention in our country.
How can we cite all aspects of his contribution to the country and the revolutionary cause? In a funeral oration at the solemn memorial service for Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach which was held in Hanoi, former Prime Minister PHAM VAN Dong, on behalf of the Communist Party and the Government, has highly appreciated his merits and achievements.
His colleagues and friends from all over the world also reserved emotional and best compliments to him. Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach, whom we often call intimately as brother Tu Thach, or Brother Tu Da (his codename at the battlefield), passed away for nearly a third of century. We, as his successive generations, would like to light an incense in honor of Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach. His life and career are brilliant examples encouraging us to fulfil our mission better. We pledge to follow Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach in upholding bioethics and striving our best to build an advanced healthcare system as required by the Communist Party, the Government and the people, in order to meet higher social demands on healthcare.
Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach’s family in the war zone.
Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach in the Southern Youth Pioneers.
Marie Louise, wife of Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach.
Uncle HO discussed with Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach about military healthcare activities.
Minister of Health, Dr. PHAM NGOC Thach, welcomed the French diplomatic delegation in Viet Nam.