Creating a healthy and safe environment is an integral part of the project.
As well as focusing on the health, safety and security of our employees and contractors, we also see the wellbeing of the local community as a key part of our focus. One way of supporting this is through a scholarship programme for physicians. The programme began in 2005 to alleviate a shortage of doctors and physicians in the remote soums of the South Gobi.
The programme provides scholarships for physicians and doctors in these remote soums. The aim is to improve their retention in the area and ensure the provision of high quality and accessible community and primary health services.
Since 2005, the programme has involved 67 doctors and medical staff across 13 soums. These are; Bayandalai, Bayan-Ovoo, Bulgan, Gurvantes, Mandal-Ovoo, Manlai, Noyon, Nomgon, Sevrei, Tsogt- Ovoo, Tsogttsetsii and Dalanzadgad. As a result of the programme, significant progress has been made since 2004. At that time, Bayan-Ovoo , Nomgon and Mandal-Ovoo soum hospitals lacked doctors and the aimag itself had less than 100 doctors in total. Now, all South Gobi soums have doctors and the total number has increased each year, reaching 147 at the end of 2013. The number of physicians per 10,000 of population has increased from 15.2 to 25.1.
The team which manages the programme is chaired by the head of the South Gobi aimag Health Department who initially approached Oyu Tolgoi with the idea of developing the project. The management team selects the physicians to take part in the programme. They also review and monitor their performance, and engage with the public to promote improvements brought about by the programme.
Since 2006, as part of the programme, accommodation and medical facilities were also constructed in 13 soums. This helped to make life easier for physicians, contributing to the retention of medical professionals across the region.