Doctors and nurses at Hanoi's National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion have been giving free haircuts to cancer patients.
Patients waiting for haircut
Patients gather at around 4.30pm every Thursday at the chemotherapy section. For the past five years, over 1,000 patients have received haircuts from the hairdressers in white.
Among them are several young patients who have yet to come to terms with their illness. An eight-year-old girl named Quynh innocently waits for her cut. Even removing all the hair from the head was less interesting than looking for a new friend. Her parents are ones having the hardest time dealing with the situation.
A young girl just asks doctors to just cut her hair short instead of being shaved bald.
8-year-old girl shaved bald
The weekly hair salon model was started by Doctor Vu Quang Hung as part of efforts to reduce the psychological burden on cancer patients. Leaders and the Youth Union at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion have supported the salon inside the hospital.
At first, Hung was the only hairdresser but due to high demand from the patients, he taught other doctors and nurses techniques for cutting and shaving hair.
5-year-old boy having a haircut
Sudden hair loss can be a traumatic side effect of the chemotherapy and by making the experience enjoyable and a normal part of hospital life, it has minimised some of the strain on these young patients.
