A needs assessment of reproductive health on the Thailand-Burma border...According to Dr. Angel Foster, DPhil, MD, of Ibis Reproductive Health and the University of Ottawa, ?Our report finds that millions of Burmese and ethnic minorities both inside Burma and along the Thai border have limited or no access to family planning, safe abortion, and general reproductive health care. The toll on women has been particularly severe. Negative effects include high numbers of unplanned pregnancies — and, consequently, high rates of maternal mortality and unsafe abortions. In fact, post-partum hemorrhage and unsafe abortion are the leading causes of maternal death and injury.? The absence of health care infrastructure inside eastern Burma, as well as for those Burmese living illegally as migrants in Thailand, has produced a kind of reproductive health ?perfect storm.? Notes Foster, ?Since denial of health care has been an official policy of the Burmese military in ethnic areas, women and men, especially adolescents, know little about family planning practices and voluntary sterilization.? Other key findings: Despite the fact that rape and sexual violence are extensive problems within both the conflict zones of eastern Burma and in migrant communities in Thailand, the few health workers that do exist generally lack the knowledge and supplies to dispense critical medicines like emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), which can prevent pregnancy after sexual assault. Even within refugee camps inside Thailand, leaders and organizations working there often adopt policies that prevent unmarried people from accessing family planning information or supplies. Finally, abortion is illegal in Burma unless a woman?s life is at risk and restricted in Thailand. Lack of legal access combined with a lack of trained providers are fundamental causes of morbidity and mortality from abortion. ?Our hope is that the new Burmese government will someday make it possible for more organizations to provide aid and resources to the people in eastern Burma where outside groups are currently banned,? said Cari Sietstra, JD, a consultant at Ibis. ?The time has come to rebuild the health and human rights of the millions of men, women, and children affected by this conflict.?... Due to an ongoing sixty-year civil war that has subjected civilian populations to forced labor, extrajudicial killings, rape, displacement, imprisonment, denial of health care and education, and destruction of food supplies, the reproductive health of Burmese populations on both sides of the Thai-Burma border is marked by high levels of unmet needs. Reproductive health indicators throughout the region demonstrate a lack of access to family planning resources, including sexual and reproductive health information, low levels of contraceptive access, and high rates of unplanned pregnancy, maternal mortality, and harm from unsafe abortion. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality for Burmese populations on both sides the Thailand-Burma border.