Myanmar's front-line medical workers are torn between their patients and working for a military government enforcing a brutal crackdown on the country, and many are finding it a precarious position.
BBC News
By Nick Marsh
image captionMyanmar s doctors are torn between their patients and a military government
Myanmar s front-line medical workers are finding themselves in a precarious position, torn between their patients and working for a military government enforcing a brutal crackdown on the country.
Moe is 53 years old and has stage three breast cancer.
She used to go for radiotherapy treatment every three weeks at the state-run Mandalay General Hospital in northern Myanmar.
But the day after the military deposed Myanmar s elected government in a coup on 1 February, the hospital closed its doors. Doctors, nurses and other medical workers all walked out in protest and have not returned.
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KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Political turmoil in Myanmar poses “huge risks” to the health of vulnerable people including sex workers and HIV patients, aid groups said, warning that medical supplies could be disrupted as the public healthcare system struggles to operate normally.
The Southeast Asian nation plunged into crisis after the army ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a Feb. 1 coup, declaring a year-long state of emergency that has sparked strikes and protests - including by doctors.
Myanmar’s public hospitals and clinics, which were already under pressure due to COVID-19, are in disarray, according to medical charities, who said they were struggling to help the rising number of people turning to them for treatment.