Border clinics open a window into Myanmar’s dire healthcare needs
Border clinics open a window into Myanmar’s dire healthcare needs. ‘We see occasional wounds from the conflict. But mostly it’s having a significant number of people there who are refugees living in suboptimal conditions.’
Since the military ousted the democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021, and became embroiled in a bloody conflict with resistance forces, healthcare facilities have been hard hit, driving up the number of patients Mae Tao now sees on a daily basis.
Some patients come seeking treatment for injuries from the conflict. Others – displaced from their homes – have illnesses stemming from living for months in makeshift jungle camps with limited access to water and food. And some arrive with conditions that have become chronic after being left untreated because people were unable to seek care in Myanmar hospitals, many of which are now run by the governing military junta.
Many of those affected live close to Myanmar’s borders with India and Bangladesh, and the number of those crossing in search of care may soon increase. The UN has launched a $333 million appeal to support relief efforts.
As the only major clinic operating near one of Myanmar’s busiest border crossings, Mae Tao offers rare insight into the situation on the ground in the difficult-to-access country next door. Even before Cyclone Mocha, rates of malaria, malnutrition, HIV, and diarrhoea had increased in the area, according to those The New Humanitarian spoke to, and more people were in need of surgery for chronic conditions.
Despite health needs spilling across the border, there’s very little awareness of the situation elsewhere in Thailand, said Kanchana Thornton, director and founder of the Mae Sot-based NGO Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF). “People in Bangkok have no idea what's going on,” she said, referring to what’s happening in Myanmar. “International NGOs need to get in there... There is no medical support, no food and shelter.”