Summary: "In June and August, the Myanmar Peace Team of the Burmese Government led by U Aung Min, then Railway Minister, met with Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder of Mae Tao Clinic, and members of the clinic. They also visited Mae Tao Clinic. The meetings to date have been informal. Nevertheless Dr. Cynthia has already clarified the three key points for her discussions with the team: ? Improvement of local cross border collaborations between health services in Thailand and Burma. Specifically, she discussed the need for a system for referral between Myawaddy Hospital, Mae Tao Clinic and Mae Sot Hospital. ? Developing solutions for addressing statelessness in children born on the Thai-Burma border to Burmese parents. Specifically, the need for the citizenship rights for children born at Mae Tao Clinic or Mae Sot Hospital whose parents are from Burma. ? The need for accreditation and recognition of the skills of those working in health, education, community development and social work on the Thai-Burma border. These three points remain unaddressed; instead, informal references were made by members of the government team to news media suggesting that Dr. Cynthia return to Burma to set up a hospital there, resulting in widespread public misunderstanding. Dr. Cynthia has never had any intention to officially set up a hospital in Burma, and the Mae Tao Clinic?s stance has and continues to be that it is primarily the responsibility of the government to upgrade and strengthen existing health infrastructure, including the primary health work of ethnic health organizations (EHOs) and community based organizations (CBOs), whose long experience, trust and access, via existing health facilities and mobile health teams, to populations is essential for building an effective comprehensive health care system, one which can realize the goal of providing ?health for all? in Burma. Thus far, serious discussions to begin the realization of this in ethnic areas of Burma have yet to begin. In particular, the community health approach utilized to expand healthcare access in many ethnic areas of Burma must be acknowledged, recognized and supported, an approach which has, for decades, enabled thousands of Burma?s peoples, particularly ethnic peoples living in rural Burma, access to essential basic health services unavailable through the current underfunded and highly centralized government health system. The three priority issues raised by Dr. Cynthia would be a key initial step towards such. The Mae Tao Clinic welcomes recent efforts by the Burmese government aimed at peace-building, as well as its initiation of dialogue with clinic staff and other health colleagues from Burma. We hope to see such efforts continue, and that they will lead to a genuine partnership to improve the health of the peoples of Burma. We will continue to support and advocate for community-managed primary health care systems in Burma, and are willing to engage in ongoing dialogue with the government Peace Team, in conjunction with our partners, EHOs working in eastern Burma, and others, including the Mae Sot Hospital and other Thai health institutions in order to continue expanding access to health services for the peoples of Burma. However, such dialogues must be inclusive and formalized, with substantive discussions and time-bound, concrete proposals to begin addressing the three priority areas that have been repeatedly raised by the clinic. We ultimately hope that this very preliminary process will transform into concrete measures that result in benefit for our patients and our communities..." ...For more information, please contact: Dr Cynthia Maung (USA from Sept 18 – 23): +1 240 370 5908 or [email protected] Eh Thwa (Thailand): +66 810448521