Letter from Australian Prime Minister to Dr. Tint Way

An Australian MP's response to Dr. Tint Way

Dr. Win Naing's interview with DVB

Letter to Minister of Health Dr. Kyaw Myint

November 15, 2007

The Honorable Dr Kyaw Myint
Minister of Health
Ministry of Health
Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Email: dmkm@health.gov.mm

Dear Dr Kyaw Myint

We, the Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals would like to bring to your attention the following accounts of life in Burma, with particular reference to the health system and its failure to attend to the basic medical needs of the populace.

The conscience of the world was moved by recent events. An editorial in the prestigious British Medical Journal The Lancet (vol. 370, 27 October 2007) pointed to the ailing health system of Burma, which has not coped with the demands placed on it, leaving Burma with a rank of 190th out of 191 nations in health care provision.

The Lancet article expressed concern about the recent disruption of food distribution programs for poor people, orphans and patients with tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, etc, as well as the ICRC's suspension from carrying out many field operations, which has impeded the relief work of the Red Cross inside Burma. The editorial went on to state that "military misrule," the root cause of the suffering, was largely responsible for Burma's humanitarian crisis, and that it was man-made, as in Zimbabwe.

It also stressed the urgent need to address the root causes of both the health system failure and the widespread suffering among the people, as well as the necessity to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in the most desperate need by preventing it from being siphoned off.
The following account, which we received from sources inside Burma in recent weeks, gives a true representation of the suffering of the great majority of the Burmese people: “The people are suffering grievously. Prices of food and bare essentials continue to rise sky-high. There is no adequate medical treatment for the sick. Unless you have money you cannot get treatment at all. If you can get into a general hospital you have to supply even cotton wool when necessary. Even in emergencies requiring blood transfusion, relatives are needed to seek the assistance of compatible donors through the black market and to offer high prices to ensure an adequate supply,just as in an auction. A relatively high percentage of the population is affected by beriberi, including children and monks.”

As a concerned Burmese physician and professional group, we call upon you and the government of Burma to allow the ICRC or the UN to monitor the distribution of aid to the most needy people of Burma and to rectify the ailing health care system by investing a larger proportion of GDP in it, implementing a more efficient health system, in which all donors’ blood are appropriately screened for HIV & HepA,B,C and patients are not required to supply their own bandages and cotton wool or to bid for blood supplies.

We also call upon the government to allow the ICRC to see political detainees and provide necessary assistance.

Yours sincerely

Dr Raymond Tint Way, MB BS, MM, FRANZCP

Consultant Psychiatrist & Member of CBPP

Suite 7, 83 George St, Parramatta, NSW 2150,Australia.

Ph: 61 2 96335155 Fx: 61 2 96335166 Mobile: 0416220208

Email: jostint@hotmail.com


BBC interview by Dr. Ko Ko Lay

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