Inadequate Medical
Supplies in Arakan Spell Looming Health Crisis for Children
Narinjara News
The number of children who
have been suffering from tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and
hepatitis has increased, and the limited medicinal supply has not been helping
the problem, says one health worker from Akyab
Hospital.
Since 19 November, there have been about 300
children hospitalized in
Most of the children are from the outlying
cities of the state, such as Kyauktaw, Mrauk U, Ponna Gyan, Rathidaung, and Pauktaw. Since local hospitals in those cities are facing a
grave shortage of medicine, these children are transferred to the state's
capital hospital, said the same medical officer.
However, the situation is not much better at
The acting head medical officer of the
hospital, Dr. Khine Myo Lwin, has sent a request for a solution to these problems
to the higher authorities and is awaiting their response. Many medical
professionals in the state, however, are not very optimistic about the prospect
of help, since the Burmese junta generally does not care about the well-being of
the people, says a senior medical officer.
A private medical supplier says medicine
produced in
It is reported that there are at least 1,000
people from 25 villages who are suffering from diarrhea in
Low capacity of medical officers and limited
supplies of medicine, along with the high prices of privately supplied
medicine, mean that many patients are not recovering from these curable
diseases and are facing unnecessary death.
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