[State hospitals are barely functioning
as humanitarian crisis unfolds across the country]
By Rebecca
Ratcliffe
Myanmar’s Covid response was
plunged into chaos when the military seized power on 1 February, detaining the
elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
State hospitals are barely
functioning, and a growing humanitarian crisis is unfolding across areas such
as Kayah state, where the
UN estimates a total of 100,000 people have been displaced by
conflict.
Fears of a further wave of Covid
cases have mounted over recent months, as new, more transmissible variants have
spread in neighbouring countries such as India and Thailand. More than 3,000
people in Myanmar died during a previous outbreak in the country.
On Monday, state media announced
that 546 new Covid infections and seven fatalities had been registered on 19
June, which is thought to be the highest increase since 1 February. It is not
clear how many tests are being carried out, or how many people have been
vaccinated.
Joy Singhal, Myanmar head of delegation
at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
described the increase as deeply alarming. “It’s confirming our worries that
the virus is spreading fast now that the more contagious and dangerous variants
are being identified in various parts of the country,” Singhal said.
“Hospitals and the whole health
system remain fractured and we need to urgently step up treatment, testing and
prevention measures to avert a repeat of the tragedy experienced in other parts
of South Asia,” he said.
The rise in cases comes as the
junta continues its crackdown on healthcare workers. Last week, state media
reported that the former head of the country’s Covid vaccination campaign, Dr
Htar Htar Lin, had been arrested and faced several charges, including high
treason, for working with pro-democracy politicians. Hundreds of medics are
wanted for incitement.
Sandra Mon, a senior epidemiology
researcher at the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said it remained
unclear how the junta planned to address the outbreak.
She urged the UN to call for the
establishment of a no-fly zone in areas affected by conflict, which have
registered infections. “We’re also seeing cases in ethnic areas where there’s a
double burden of conflict and an increasing humanitarian crisis. Attempts to
deliver medical supplies and equipment to these areas have been blocked by
state security forces, which further cripples the response capacity there,” she
said.
The possibility of bringing in a
third party to manage vaccinations also needed to be considered, she added.
Many healthworkers and civilians have rejected vaccinations offered by the
junta, due to the deep mistrust of the security forces, which have killed 870
people since February.
“[The] best possible way forward at
this point is some sort of medical emergency-based ceasefire in which the
junta-Ministry of Health and Sport and NUG-Minsitry of Health come to an
agreement for an apolitical covid response strategy,” said Mon, referring to
the national unity government which was formed by pro-democracy politicians.
Almost 5,000 people are currently
being held in detention, or have been sentenced by the junta, according to the
advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). This
includes many health workers, who are no longer working in state hospitals, but
are instead risking arrest to treat patients in secret, underground clinics,
where supplies and equipment are limited. Doctors and nurses have also
repeatedly warned they are being deliberately targeted by military violence.
Earlier this month, the health
charity MSF said it had been ordered by authorities in Tanintharyi region to
suspend activities in Dawei. The charity said the order “could be
life-threatening for more than 2,000 HIV and tuberculosis patients” and that it
was taking steps to minimise disruption.
