Meetings Held to Identify the Need for Implementing The Denan Project in Zavkhan Province
The Denan project was implemented in Tariat soum of Arkhangai province from 2012 to 2022. The project is operational in Erdenemandal soum, Arkhangai province since 2017, and in Chandmani soum, Gobi-Altai province since 2022. The Denan project aims to improve the services of the Soum Health Care Centers through providing financial support to procure equipment, apparatus, medicines and laboratory reagents. Regular medical examinations take place in the soums, and different activities are conducted to improve public health education and advocacy for children and youth.
To expand the scope of The Denan Project and identify the need for implementing the project in Zavkhan province, a meeting was held on July 24, 2024, with L. Bayan-Altai, Country Manager and Representative of Save the Children in Mongolia; B. Nomin, Health Project Officer; Dick Young, Founder and President of The Denan Project; Jean Shin, Board Member of The Denan Project; P. Dulguun and B. Myagmarsuren, Field Officers; and M. Urjinkhand, the Head of Zavkhan Province Health Department, along with other specialists. During the meeting, the Zavkhan Province Health Department shared information about the health indicators and services provided to the residents and introduced the need to improve and upgrade the dental equipment at the Tudevtei Soum Health Care Center. This dental cabinet serves not only the residents of Tudevtei Soum, but also about 16,000 residents, including approximately 6,600 children aged 0-18, from 9 other soums: Asgat, Songino, Bayantes, Tes, Nömreg, Bayankhairkhan, Santmargats, and Tsetsen-Uul.
Save the Children’s Health Project Officer B. Nomin, The Denan Project initiator and President Dick Young, and Board Member of The Denan Project Jean Shin visited Tudevtei soum to meet with the Health Care Center staff and get acquainted with the hospital. Tudevtei Soum is located 250 km from the provincial center, has a population of about 1,800, and experiences extreme weather with hot summers and cold winters.
The head of the Tudevtei Soum Health Care Center, N. Ulziijargal, provided information about the health services offered. The hospital has specialized doctors in anesthesiology, internist, pediatrics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and traditional medicine, with a total of 26 staff members. The dental cabinet of the health center, which started operating in 2016, provided oral health services to 1,054 patients in 2022 and 997 patients in 2023. N. Ulziijargal stated, “Out of the 512 children aged 0-17 in the Soum, 406 or 80.4% suffer from oral health issues. The current dentist has been working steadily since 2023.”
In addition to the residents of 9 neighboring soums, the dental cabinet of the Tudevtei Soum Health Care Center also serves residents from the adjacent soums of Khuvsgul and Uvs provinces. The farthest soum from Tudevtei is Tes, located 180 km away, and 430 km from Uliastai.
The Health Care Center sought the possibility from The Denan Project team to provide necessary equipment to make the dental cabinet’s operations more efficient and expand its services.