The UN refugee agency on Friday called for urgent action and increased financial support to improve conditions for displaced people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and avert a humanitarian catastrophe when seasonal rains start in a few weeks time.
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Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne infection that peaks during Burma’s wet season has struck Karen children early this year. A government health official told Karen News that the number of children in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State, presenting with dengue are high. (more…)

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Lower House speaker Thura Shwe Mann discussed plans to upgrade Yangon General Hospital, Myanmar’s largest, with former United Kingdom health minister Lord Ara Darzi yesterday.
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After her heroin-addict husband died five years ago, Ei Ei Phyu discovered she was HIV-positive. She thought her life was over until friends directed her to the open-air clinic here where she receives antiretroviral medicine.
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Myanmar may receive an additional funding package of up to US$89.5 million to fight HIV, TB and Malaria following a visit by a Global Fund team to assess the funding gap in prevention and treatment of the diseases. (more…)

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it has welcomed a contribution which more than doubles Japan’s support for its food assistance operations in Myanmar—from ¥ 814 million (US $10 million) last year to ¥ 2 billion (US$21 million) this year. (more…)

Foreign doctors will be issued with licenses to operate in Myanmar, said the chairman of the Myanmar Medical Council at a conference on Friday at the Myanmar Medical Council in Yangon. (more…)

A diarrhoea outbreak in a camp for displaced Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar killed at least three children early this month, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has said. (more…)

Sicknesses are spreading among children living in the Kutupalong and Leda unofficial refugee camps. Anwer, a refugee committee member from Kutupalong makeshift camp, said that many children from ages 5 to 7 are getting sick with chicken pox, measles, pneumonia or coming down with fevers. (more…)

In a tiny clinic on the outskirts of Rangoon, a patient is complaining that she has too much snot up her nose. The young doctor picks up a torch to peer down her nostrils and says he cannot see a problem, but the patient pulls out some x-rays taken by a local hospital and says she worries there may be a cancerous growth. (more…)

Older women who drink alcohol daily in Myanmar consume an “exceptionally high” amount compared with their younger counterparts, according to the recently released findings of the first nationwide study into the risk factors for non-communicable disease. (more…)

The health conditions of displaced villagers in Kachin State are deteriorating and dozens of children are suffering from diarrhea, a local doctor said on Thursday, adding that three infants had already succumbed to the illness this week. (more…)

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) will be a key issue for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State as the weather gets warmer, say aid workers. (more…)

Outbreaks of illnesses are spreading amongst refugees – mostly children – living in official and unofficial camps in Bangladesh. The most common sicknesses are pneumonia, fever, cough, stomach’s pain and diarrhea, according to a doctor from Teknaf. (more…)

In her long, scarlet sarong, crisp white shirt and nurse’s cap pinned neatly in place, Khin Aye Nwe looks as though she belongs in a modern hospital. (more…)

Less than a week after being sent to Bangkok to receive treatment for severe burns sustained in a crackdown on anti-copper mine protests last month, 64-year-old monk U Teikkha Nyana’s long road to recovery has hit a major hurdle: a lack of money to cover his medical expenses. (more…)

A team of scientists coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced groundbreaking research into the spread of malaria in Myanmar. (more…)

According to UNAIDS, AIDS kills an estimated 18,000 people a year in Myanmar. The country is one of the hardest places in the world to receive HIV treatment. Myanmar spent less than $1 per person on health in 2008, minus donor money, and ranks among the lowest countries in nearly every category of health care funding. Now, with the dramatic change that has given Myanmar an elected government, there are hopes for improvement, but the country faces a long climb. (more…)

Rangoon – Hundreds of ethnic people are descending on Rangoon every day to seek medical treatment because of the dire healthcare on offer in their home states. (more…)

While precise information about nutrition levels in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is still difficult to obtain, UNICEF is very concerned about the extent and severity of child malnutrition, which has been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict. (more…)