General studies on health in Burma
Websites/Multiple Documents
| Title: | | Country Health System Profile - Myanmar |
| Description/subject: | | Country Health System Profile...
Mini profile -2007...
1. Trends in Policy Development...
2. Trends in Socio-Economic Development...
3. Health and Environment...
4. Health Resources...
5. Development of the Health System...
6. Health Services...
7. Trends in Health Status...
8. Outlook for The Future...
9. Basic Health indicators including the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | World Health Organisation |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 18 April 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Public Health in Myanmar -- blog |
| Description/subject: | | About this blog:
This blog is jointly written by a group of Myanmar Public Health Professionals...
Our objectives are:
1. To disseminate public health concepts and practices
2. To present contemporary international public health issues
3. To present and discuss public health problems of Myanmar.....
Note
This blog is written using Zawgyi-One (Burmese Unicode) font. You would be able to see the messages in Burmese without requiring font installation if you use Internet Explorer.
Blog Archive.....
* â⓼ 2008 (115)
o â⓼ December (7)
+ Genetic Diseases and Inheritance Patterns (1)
+ Introduction to Genetic Inheritance
+ HIV / AIDS (3)
+ Adult ADHD
+ Hypertension
+ HIV / AIDS (2)
+ Rhesus Factor
o â⓺ November (9)
+ Healthy Diet
+ Essential Nutrients for Healthy living (2)
+ Melamine & Health Problems
+ HIV / AIDS (1)
+ Ischemic Heart Disease
+ Tropical Medicine
+ Emergency Contraception !!!
+ Methods of Contraception ...
+ When you eat recklessly, ...
o â⓺ October (16)
+ Allergic Rhinitis
+ Ringworm Infection
+ Scabies
+ Peptic Ulcer
+ United Nations' first Global Handwashing Day
+ Prohibition against import, processing, distributi...
+ Anorexia Nervosa
+ TELEVISION, COMPUTER VISION AND YOUR EYES
+ Prohibition against import, processing, distributi...
+ Premarital screening
+ Sunshine, Skin and Tomato
+ Fake Penicillin Injections in Market
+ Sinusitis
+ Treatment Of Meningitis
+ Essential Nutrients for Healthy Living (1)
+ Symptoms of Meningitis
o â⓺ September (23)
+ Notice for Melamine and Milk products
+ Quit Smoking
+ Smoking and Heart
+ Melamine found in sweets !!!
+ Dementia Syndrome (2)
+ Influenza
+ Influenza Prevention
+ Dementia Syndrome (1)
+ Unnoticed Causes Of Fatigue
+ Malnutrition
+ Attension Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (3)
+ Attension Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2)
+ Medical Diseases of US
+ Attension Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - ...
+ Calculate your BMI
+ Schizophrenia
+ Good Boy, Good Girl ...
+ Dental Caries
o â⓺ August (23)
o â⓺ July (4)
o â⓺ June (10)
o â⓺ May (2)
o â⓺ April (1)
o â⓺ March (3)
o â⓺ February (13)
o â⓺ January (4)
* â⓺ 2007 (50) |
| Language: | | Burmese |
| Source/publisher: | | Public Health in Myanmar |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 December 2008 |
|
| Title: | | World Health Organisation -- Myanmar page |
| Description/subject: | | OVERVIEW:
- Country cooperation strategy
- International travel and health
PARTNERS:
- Collaborating centres...
OUTBREAKS AND CRISES:
- Emergencies...
- Disease outbreaks...
MORTALITY AND BURDEN OF DISEASE:
- Mortality profile...
- HIV/AIDS treatment...
- Malaria...
- Tuberculosis...
- TB prevalence and incidence...
- HIV prevalence...
- HIV/AIDS epidemiological fact sheet...
HEALTH SERVICE COVERAGE:
- Immunization profile...
RISK FACTORS:
- Chronic diseases...
- Anaemia...
- Child malnutrition...
- Access to water, sanitation...
- Alcohol, tobacco consumption...
- Undernutrition and overweight...
HEALTH SYSTEMS:
- Health workforce...
- Health financing. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | World Health Organisation |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 24 February 2009 |
|
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Myanmar - Von der Kolonie zum Armenhaus |
| Date of publication: | | 07 September 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Die knapp 60 Jahre mit ständigem Wechsel von bewaffneten Konflikten, BürgerInnenkriegen und "sozialistischer" Militärdiktatur sind der Grund für die heutige Lage eines der ärmsten Länder der Welt. Der Artikel schildert die ethnischen KOnflikte, den Terror des Militärs und die Lage der Menschenrechte in Myanmar;
Ethnic minorities; terror; human rights; education; Karen; |
| Author/creator: | | Sebastian Nagel |
| Language: | | German, Deutsch |
| Source/publisher: | | Grüne Jugend |
| Format/size: | | Html (47kb) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 15 September 2007 |
|
| Title: | | The Gathering Storm: Infectious Diseases and Human Rights in Burma |
| Date of publication: | | July 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | "Decades of repressive military rule, civil war, corruption, bad governance, isolation, and
widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have rendered
Burma’s health care system incapable of responding effectively to endemic and emerging
infectious diseases. Burma’s major infectious diseases—malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis
(TB)—are severe health problems in many areas of the country. Malaria is the most common
cause of morbidity and mortality due to infectious disease in Burma. Eighty-nine percent of the
estimated population of 52 million lived in malarial risk areas in 1994, with about 80 percent of
reported infections due to Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of the disease.
Burma has one of the highest TB rates in the world, with nearly 97,000 new cases detected each
year.4 Drug resistance to both TB and malaria is rising, as is the broad availability of counterfeit
antimalarial drugs. In June 2007, a TB clinic operated by Médecins Sans Frontières–France in
the Thai border town of Mae Sot reported it had confirmed two cases of extensively drugresistant
TB in Burmese migrants who had previously received treatment in Burma. Meanwhile,
HIV/AIDS, once contained to high-risk groups in Burma, has spread to the general population,
which is defined as a prevalence of 1 percent among reproductive-age adults.5
Meanwhile, the Burmese government spends less than 3 percent of national expenditures on
health, while the military, with a standing army of over 400,000 troops, consumes 40 percent.6
By comparison, many of Burma’s neighbors spend considerably more on health: Thailand
(6.1%7), China (5.6 %8), India (6.1%9), Laos (3.2%10), Bangladesh (3.4%11), and Cambodia
(12%12).....The report recommends that:
• The Burmese government develop a national health care system in which care is
distributed effectively, equitably, and transparently.
• The Burmese government increase its spending on health and education to confront
the country’s long-standing health problems, especially the rise of drug-resistant
malaria and tuberculosis.
• The Burmese government rescind guidelines issued last year by the country’s
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development because these guidelines
have restricted such organizations as the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) from providing relief in Burma.
• The Burmese government allow ICRC to resume visits to prisoners without the
requirement that ICRC doctors be accompanied by members of the Union Solidarity
and Development Association or other organizations.
• The Burmese government take immediate steps to halt the internal conflict and
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma that
are creating an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons and facilitating
the spread of infectious diseases in the region.
• Foreign aid organizations and donors monitor and evaluate how aid to combat
infectious diseases in Burma is affecting domestic expenditures on health and
education.
• Relevant national and local government agencies, United Nations agencies, NGOs
establish a regional narcotics working group which would assess drug trends in the
region and monitor the impact of poppy eradication programs on farming
communities.
• UN agencies, national and local governments, and international and local NGOs
cooperate closely to facilitate greater information-sharing and collaboration among
agencies and organizations working to lessen the burden of infectious diseases in
Burma and its border regions. These institutions must develop a regional response
to the growing problem of counterfeit antimalarial drugs." |
| Author/creator: | | Eric Stover, Voravit Suwanvanichkij, Andrew Moss, David Tuller, Thomas J. Lee, Emily Whichard, Rachel Shigekane, Chris Beyrer, David Scott Mathieson |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley; Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. |
| Format/size: | | pdf (5.1MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.jhsph.edu/humanrights/images/GatheringStorm_BurmaReport_2007.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 29 June 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Chronic Emergency - Health and Human Rights in Eastern Burma |
| Date of publication: | | 07 September 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | This link leads to a document containing the Table of Contents of the report, with links to the English, Burmese and Thai versions...
Executive Summary: "Disinvestment in health, coupled with widespread poverty, corruption, and the dearth of skilled personnel have resulted in the collapse of Burma’s health system. Today, Burma’s health indicators by official figures are among the worst in the region. However, information collected by the Back Pack Health Workers Team (BPHWT) on the eastern frontiers of the country, facing decades of civil war and widespread human rights abuses, indicate a far greater public health catastrophe in areas where official figures are not collected.
In these eastern areas of Burma, standard public health indicators such as population pyramids, infant mortality rates, child mortality rates, and maternal mortality ratios more closely resemble other countries facing widespread humanitarian disasters, such as Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Angola, and Cambodia shortly after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge. The most common cause of death continues to be malaria, with over 12% of the population at any given time infected with Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of malaria. One out of every twelve women in this area may lose her life around the time of childbirth, deaths that are largely preventable. Malnutrition is unacceptably common, with over 15% of children at any time with evidence of at least mild malnutrition, rates far higher than their counterparts who have fled to refugee camps in Thailand. Knowledge of sanitation and safe drinking water use remains low.
Human rights violations are very common in this population. Within the year prior, almost a third of households had suffered from forced labor, almost 10% forced displacement, and a quarter had had their food confiscated or destroyed. Approximately one out of every fifty households had suffered violence at the hands of soldiers, and one out of 140 households had a member injured by a landmine within the prior year alone. There also appear to be some regional variations in the patterns of human rights abuses. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in areas most solidly controlled by the SPDC and its allies, such as Karenni State and Pa’an District, faced more forced labor while those living in more contested areas, such as Nyaunglebin and Toungoo Districts, faced more forced relocation. Most other areas fall in between these two extremes. However, such patterns should be interpreted with caution, given that the BPHW survey was not designed to or powered to reliably detect these differences.
Using epidemiologic tools, several human rights abuses were found to be closely tied to adverse health outcomes. Families forced to flee within the preceding twelve months were 2.4 times more likely to have a child (under age 5) die than those who had not been forcibly displaced. Households forced to flee also were 3.1 times as likely to have malnourished children compared to those in more stable situations.
Food destruction and theft were also very closely tied to several adverse health consequences. Families which had suffered this abuse in the preceding twelve months were almost 50% more likely to suffer a death in the household. These households also were 4.6 times as likely to have a member suffer from a landmine injury, and 1.7 times as likely to have an adult member suffer from malaria, both likely tied to the need to forage in the jungle. Children of these households were 4.4 times as likely to suffer from malnutrition compared to households whose food supply had not been compromised.
For the most common abuse, forced labor, families that had suffered from this within the past year were 60% more likely to have a member suffer from diarrhea (within the two weeks prior to the survey), and more than twice as likely to have a member suffer from night blindness (a measure of vitamin A deficiency and thus malnutrition) compared to families free from this abuse.
Not only are many abuses linked statistically from field observations to adverse health consequences, they are yet another obstacle to accessing health care services already out of reach for the majority of IDP populations in the eastern conflict zones of Burma. This is especially clear with women’s reproductive health: forced displacement within the past year was associated with a 6.1 fold lower use of contraception. Given the high fertility rate of this population and the high prevalence of conditions such as malaria and malnutrition, the lack of access often is fatal, as reflected by the high maternal mortality ratio—as many as one in 12 women will die from pregnancy-related complications.
This report is the first to measure basic public health indicators and quantify the extent of human rights abuses at the population level amongst IDP communities living in the eastern conflict zones of Burma. These results indicate that the poor health status of these IDP communities is intricately and inexorably linked to the human rights context in which health outcomes are observed. Without addressing factors which drive ill health and excess morbidity and mortality in these populations, such as widespread human rights abuses and inability to access healthcare services, a long-term, sustainable improvement in the public health of these areas cannot occur..." |
| Language: | | English, Burmese, Thai |
| Source/publisher: | | Back Pack Health Worker Team |
| Format/size: | | html (9K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 September 2006 |
|
| Title: | | Responding to AIDS, TB, Malaria and Emerging Infectious Diseases in Burma: Dilemmas of Policy and Practice |
| Date of publication: | | March 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | "...This report seeks to synthesize what is known about HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other
disease threats including Avian influenza (H5N1 virus) in Burma; assess the regional health and
security concerns associated with these epidemics; and to suggest policy options for responding
to these threats in the context of tightening restrictions imposed by the junta..." ...I. Introduction [p. 9-13]
II. SPDC Health Expenditures and Policies [p.14-18]
III. Public Health Status [p.19-42]
a. HIV/AIDS
b. TB
c. Malaria
d. Other health threats: Avian Flu, Filaria, Cholera
IV. SPDC Policies Towards the Three "Priority Diseases" [p. 43-45]
and Humanitarian Assistance
V. Health Threats and Regional Security Issues [p. 46-51]
a. HIV
b. TB
c. Malaria
VI. Policy and Program Options [p. 52-56]
VII. References [p. 57-68]
Appendix A: Official translation of guidelines
Appendix B: Statement by Bureau of Public Affairs
Appendix C: Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Avian Flu notification. |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH; Luke Mullany, PhD; Adam Richards, MD, MPH; Aaron Samuals, MHS; Voravit Suwanvanichkij, MD, MPH; om Lee, MD, MHS; Nicole Franck, MHS |
| Language: | | English, Burmese, Chinese |
| Source/publisher: | | Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.6MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/respondingburmese-ES-bu.pdf (Executive Summary, Burmese, 83K)
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/respondingburmese-ES-ch.pdf (Executive Summary, Chinese, 144K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 April 2006 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2004: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | August 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | Situation of health; Access to Healthcare; Malnutrition;
Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; Malaria; Tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Mental Health; Support for People with Disabilities; International Humanitarian Aid. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 April 2006 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2003-2004: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | November 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | Government Spending on Health and Education; Situation of Education: Adult Illiteracy; High School Education; University Education; Disparity between Civilian and Military Education; Universities Supported by the Military; Access to IT Education; Updates on Education...Situation of Health: Access to Health Care; Malnutrition; Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; Malaria; Tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Mental Health; Support for People with Disabilities; International Humanitarian Aid...Personal Accounts: Personal Accounts Related to Heath -
High cost of medical care in Mon State... Personal Accouts Related to Education - Excessive fees for primary education; The miserable conditions of Mandalay university students; |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentaqtion Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 May 2005 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2002-2003: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | October 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | Government Spending on Health and Education... Situation of Education: Adult Illiteracy; High School Education; University Education; Disparity between Civilian and Military Education; Universities Supported by the Military; Access to IT Education; Troops Shut Down Two Universities Following Gang Fighting; Military University Closed and 2 Students Arrested Following Strikes... Situation of Health: Access to Health Care; Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; Malaria; Tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Mental Health; International Humanitarian Aid...Personal Account (on education) |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 May 2005 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2001-2002: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | September 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | "...Burma has one of the poorest health records and lowest standards of living in the developing world. Health and education are
given incredibly low priorities in the national budget, and lip-service to these issues often take the place of substantial reforms or
programs. Because of political considerations the root causes of problems in these arenas, such as the affects of landmines and
forced labor on health and the effect of school closings and censorship on education, are not dealt with in meaningful ways.
Low salaries and lack of transparent and effective supervision has made it easy for corruption to flourish among medical
personnel and educators. Patients more often than not have to pay a bribe to be seen by a doctor, get a bed in a hospital, or
receive essential medicine. Primary school students can pay to receive better grades or get private tutoring from their teachers.
Higher education in Burma is particularly substandard with students, during those times that the universities are actually open,
being given rush degrees in order to prevent any political opposition to the military regime to spring up on college campuses..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2000: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | October 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | Situation of Education: Partial Re-opening of Universities; Closure of Dagon and Rangoon Cultural University; No Housing for Students at Pa-an college; Technical Institute moved to remote areas and tuition too high for most students; Quality Higher Education Lost for a Generation of Students; Disparity Between Civilian and Military Education... Situation of Health: HIV/AIDS; SPDC Ministry of Health Data on HIV (also see chapter on Women);
HIV Prevalence Rates Among Injecting Drug Users;
Mental Health; Prisoners' Health; Health Related INGOs Working in Burma; Health Situation in Border/Conflict Areas; Health situation in relocation sites; Health situation for villagers in hiding villages; Health Situation in Toungoo District, Karen State; Epidemic Kills thousands in Maung Yawn; Villagers forced to pay for UNICEF provisions; Families forced to buy health care cards for mothers and children to support military fund; Bribes demanded to attend Nurse Training; Lack of medicine among SPDC soldiers; Shortage of Medicine and Importation of Counterfeit Medicine in Karenni State... Personal Account. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Ri9ghts Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 May 2005 |
|
| Title: | | FATAL SILENCE? Freedom of Expression and the Right to Health in Burma |
| Date of publication: | | July 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | The Online Burma Library contains two versions of this 1996 report -- in html with added URLs of references not available online in 1996 and a Word version, without these additions, which keeps, so far as possible, the format of the hard copy.
"Censorship has long concealed a multitude of grave issues in Burma (Myanmar. After decades of governmental secrecy and isolation, Burma was dramatically thrust into world headlines during the short-lived democracy uprising in the summer of 1988. But, while international concern and pressure has since continued to mount over the country's long-standing political crisis, the health and humanitarÂian consequences of over 40 years of political malaise and ethnic conÂflict have largely been neglected. Indeed, in many parts of the country, they remain totally unaddressed.
There are many elements involved in addressing the health criÂsis which now besets Burma's peoples. A fundamental aspect, in ARTICLE 19's view, is for the rights to freedom of expression and information, together with the right to democratic participation, to be ensured. In a context of censorship and secrecy, individuals cannot make informed decisions on important matters affecting their health. Without freedom of academic research and the ability to disseminate research findings, there can be no informed public debate. Denial of research and information also makes effective health planning and provision less likely at the national level. Without local participation, founded on freedom of expression and access to information, the health needs of many sections of society are likely to remain unaddressed. Likewise, secrecy and censorship have a negative impact on the work of international humanitarian agencies..." |
| Author/creator: | | Martin Smith |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Article 19 |
| Format/size: | | html (1.1MB), Word (589K), pdf |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/burma-fatal-silence-.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/FATAL-SILENCE.doc |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 July 2003 |
|
| Title: | | WHO |
| Date of entry/update: | | 04 February 2009 |
|
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