Health

Today marked World Malaria Day, and while the global community celebrated significant declines in moratlity rates from malaria since 2000, a new drug-resistant form of the parasite has one leading expert warning of a potential health disaster. In the last ten years, the fight against malaria has seen dramatic decreases in deaths. A concerted effort across the world to combat…

From out of Mae Tao Clinic’s Child Outpatient Department the sound of crying babies can be heard. A queue of parents, children in tow, wait outside the basic concrete building for their children to be weighed, measured and checked for serious diseases. “We have six medics and four community health workers to cope with the children.” Dixie, a medic from…

Despite ceasefires between armed ethnic groups and the government’s military, many people from Burma are continuing to cross the border into Thailand in order to seek health care that is inaccessible or unaffordable in their own country. This has created a population of ‘medical refugees’, a phenomenon that has largely been ignored in the course of current discussions regarding Burma’s…

General Saw Lah Pwe, head of the Democratic Karen Benovelant Army (DKBA), is recovering from what is thought to be throat cancer in a hospital in Singapore, a DKBA commander confirmed to Karen News. DKBA Tactical Commander General Saw San Aung said that General Saw Lah Pwe’s condition had improved, but that he needed to go through a further “four…

The founder of the renowned Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) warns of “significant barriers” to improving the health of people on the Thai-Burma border, despite some recent reforms in Burma, in an opinion piece for the Bangkok Post. Dr Cynthia Maung says that obstacles to the health of cross border communities remain in place, even as Burma goes through political and…

The leader of the Karen militia that attacked the Burma Army in Myawaddy in late 2010 and in the resulting firefight forcing thousands of refugees into Thailand has been admitted to a Rangoon hospital for treatment of what is feared maybe cancer. Major General Saw Lah Pwe, also known as Na Kham Mway, is the leader of the Klo Htoo…

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will present Dr Cynthia Maung, the founder of Mae Tao Clinic with a honorary doctoral degree in recognition of her work with refugee and migrant communities on the Thai Burma border. Ubon Ratchathani University (UBU), Thailand, will present Dr Cynthia Maung, a Karen doctor and founder of the Mae Tao Clinic on the…

The Karen National Union has opened, in response to village concerns, a clinic to give remote and isolated rural communities access to healthcare. The Kawkreik Township, Dooplaya District KNU office opened the clinic in the Mae Kanel village in Nu Poe area on November 20, 2013. Pa Doh Saw Eh Kaw Thaw, secretary of the KNU’s Kawkareik Township office said…

In an interview with Karen News reporter, Henry Zwartz, Dr Cynthia Maung explains why she honoured to receive this year’s Sydney Peace Prize, but expressed dismay with the Australian government’s decision to stop funding her clinic as of December 2013. The Sydney Peace Prize is Australia’s only international prize for peace. It is awarded to commend an organization or individual…

Medics in southern Burma said that they do not have enough medicine to treat a diarrhea epidemic that has swept through a Karen village. Medics for the Karen National Union said that as many as 40 villagers from K’neh Kaw (Pya Tha Chaung) in Dawei Township, in Sothern Burma are sick and needed emergency treatment. A Karen medic working in…