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BURMA:THE GENERALS VS THE PHYSICIA
- Subject: BURMA:THE GENERALS VS THE PHYSICIA
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 17:58:00
Burma: The Generals vs. the
Physicians
By Cesar Chelala
Sunday, October 19, 1997; Page C09
The Washington Post
One of the most regrettable aspects of Burma's
abusive military
regime is its persecution and imprisonment of
physicians. This
persecution comes at a time of continuous
deterioration of
health conditions in that country. It can be
anticipated that the
situation will only worsen unless the international
community
forces out a dictatorship that is far more
responsive to its own
perverse interests than to the welfare of the
Burmese people.
Now under arrest or missing are eight physicians
who are
members of parliament. It is known that three of
them were
given 25-year prison sentences for attending secret
meetings.
One of the physicians, Dr. Aung Khin Sint, had been
awarded
a literacy award in 1972 and received the World Health
Fellowship three times. He was arrested on Aug. 4,
1993, for
distributing leaflets that opposed restrictions
imposed on the
National Convention. He was released on Feb. 4, 1995,
rearrested on July 23, 1996, and is still in
prison. No sentence
has been given, nor are family visits allowed.
Also imprisoned is Dr. Ma Thida, the recipient of
the 1996
Reebok Human Rights Award and of the PEN/Barbara
Goldsmith award, which honors writers or
journalists who have
courageously defended freedom of expression. Dr. Ma
Thida
is a writer and political activist who was a
campaign assistant to
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy
movement. In October 1993, she was sentenced to 20
years in
prison for "endangering public tranquillity, having
contact with
unlawful organizations, and distributing unlawful
literature." It's
possible that Dr. Ma Thida was punished for being among
several physicians who treated civilians during the
pro-democracy demonstrations of 1988, and for her
outspoken work for the National League for
Democracy. She
is being kept at Insein prison in Rangoon.
A report by Amnesty International reveals that Dr.
Ma Thida is
held in solitary confinement, that her prison cell
has little light
and that she has no access to reading materials.
She has had
tuberculosis, and in the past three years has
developed three
ovarian tumors that require surgery. Because of
lack of access
to her or to information about her health, it is
not known
whether surgery has been performed to remove the
tumors.
Burma's jails are mostly inaccessible not only to
human rights
and humanitarian organizations but, in many cases,
to the
families of the detainees as well.
It is estimated that there are 4,800 prisoners in
Insein prison,
most of whom are without adequate medical attention, in
conditions that Amnesty International indicates
often amount to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Also of
concern is the
denial of medical care for those imprisoned or
forced to act as
porters for army troops in border areas. Civilians
have been
repeatedly maimed or killed by land mines placed by the
military.
Physicians for Human Rights has gathered
information that in
the past the Burmese security forces have violated
internationally accepted principles of medical
neutrality. In
addition, during periods of conflict between the
government
and minority groups, health workers in border areas
have been
detained for rendering medical care, and civilians
in those areas
have been denied the most basic medical attention.
The need for health workers is the more pressing
because
AIDS is an important public health problem in the
region in
general and in Burma in particular. In 1996 it was
estimated
that 500,000 people in Burma had been infected with
HIV. Of
an estimated 160,000 drug addicts, at least half
are said by
experts to be infected with HIV. Burma's neighbors
share in
the risk, as HIV infection spreads quickly along
drug trade
routes. There has been a rapid expansion of the
epidemic from
the poppy-growing centers of northern Thailand to
neighboring
areas of Burma, China, India and Laos.
Currently, only about 65 percent of the Burmese
people have
access to basic health services, which explains the
poor
national health indicators. The national infant
mortality rate in
1995 was 105 for every 1,000 live births, with wide
regional
variations in the country. This compares with 34 in
Vietnam, 27
in Thailand and 11 in Malaysia. According to UNICEF, 1
million children are malnourished, 9 to 12 percent
severely so.
The high rate of babies with birth weight below 5
1/2 pounds
probably reflects the high malnutrition levels
among pregnant
women.
UNICEF reports that maternal mortality rates for
1990 were
an astronomically high 580 per 100,000 live births,
compared
with 80 in Malaysia and 10 in Singapore. Most
maternal deaths
in Burma are due to induced abortions, largely
conducted
clandestinely, and to unsanitary conditions. In
addition, there is
a widespread lack of essential medications, which
contributes
to the poor health status of the population.
There has been a slow but noticeable change in the
international community's stance toward Burma,
which makes
the goal of forcing out the generals appear within
reach.
Several companies have in the recent past pulled
out of the
country, while no new investments can come from
America,
since President Clinton announced sanctions against
the junta
last May. If that tendency gathers momentum, the
worsening
economic situation may precipitate the general's
downfall. It
can't be too soon for the suffering Burmese people.
The writer is a member of the International
Advisory Board of
Physicians for Human Rights.