Forty one children, all under 10 years of age have died in a severe outbreak of diarrhea between October 10 to 20, and another 87 people have been infected in Tawphyachaung area of Ponna Kyunt Township, Arakan State, local doctor’s report.

The majority of the children were from Tawphyangchaung areas, including, Thanpongtan, Ohmay, Tharachaung, Pangchaung, Thakyintaung, Khamerwa, and Phorheepyarn villages. The disease has been a major problem in the area since it broke out in February this year.

According to local people, children in the area have been afflicted with diarrhea due to malnutrition. Many of the children have been eating unhygienic food such as bamboo shoots and white yam, because their families are unable to provide them with nutritious or staple food.

In the area, 90 percent of villagers’ work relate to cutting bamboo and trees. However, many of the villagers are unemployed after local authorities placed a ban on bamboo felling in the area, said a source.

“We are banned from entering the forests by the local army authorities, so most of the villagers who depend on the forest for their survival are facing shortage of income, and are unable to buy food for their daily survival. Many people, including children, are being afflicted with several diseases, especially diarrhea,” said Maung Phru Chay from Thakyintaung Village.

The government is aware of the problems of starvation in the area, but no provisions have been provided for the hungry people, he added.

Tawphyachaung area is a few miles from the nearest town in Ponna Kyunt, and is located between the Tawphyachaung River and a high mountain range. Doctors and other health workers have a difficult time visiting the area during the rainy season due to lack of transportation.

“I feel sad for them because they are children, and they were going to school,” said the villager.

Except for a few families, the majority are unable to make it to the nearest hospital for treatment because they have no money.

A source from Ponna Kyunt said Major Myo Tun of Battalion 550 based in Ponna Kyunt, and two doctors from AZG, a non-governmental organization, have been to the area since October 10 to try and help check the outbreak of the disease.

AZG, the Dutch branch of Medicins Sans Frontieres has operated several medical projects, including malaria and HIV treatment and prevention projects, in several townships of Arakan, including Ponna Kyunt Township. The NGO has been working in Burma since 1992.