Burma Health News Diagnosis: Critical
Several of our counterparts from Burma have worked together to produce a report on the health of people living in the conflict zones of eastern Burma.
Diagnosis: Critical details the health conditions in these areas as amongst the worst in the world, and a clear result of government cuts to health care, the protracted conflict and the widespread and systematic abuse of civilians, including forced displacement and forced labour.
The report was released October 19, 2010, just three weeks before Burma's first national elections in twenty years. It notes that the results of the election will do little to improve the situation, since the new constitution allows the military forces responsible for these abuses to continue to operate outside civilian control. The report offers a unique window into an area of the world that is rarely seen or heard. One in 14 women in eastern Burma are infected with Pf malaria, one of the highest rates in the world, and 60 percent of deaths of children under five are from preventable and treatable diseases.
The report also warns that multi-drug resistant malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are growing concerns. In particular, the spread of this resistant strain of malaria would be a regional and global disaster.
Through Inter Pares, Canadians have played a critical role in supporting these health workers and the people they serve. This report has given us an opportunity to hear from people whose voices are systematically repressed. Now, as elections take place alongside widespread human rights abuses, we have a chance to listen, and to support the courageous men and women who are struggling not only for their own lives, but for the health, peace and justice to which all the peoples of Burma aspire.
The full report can be found on the website of the Back Pack Health Worker Team or the Mae Tao Clinic
| Reviewed April 12, 2011 |  |
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