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Myanmar Public Hospitals
i Love Myanmar team visiting Mindat Hospital |
Overview Under the Myanmar Government, hospitals can be divided into 3 different sectors. |
Military Hospitals Around a hundred military hospitals exist to serve the needs of army personnel as well as their families free of charge. These hospitals range from 16 to 200 bedded. |
Labor Hospitals There are 2 labor hospitals, 1 in Yangon and 1 in Mandalay. Individuals with stable jobs in the public or private sector can become a member of the Social Security Board where the individual pays a monthly fee ranging from $ 1-8 USD depending upon their income. When medical attention is needed, the Social Security Board will cover all medical expenses. However the hospitals only see about 100-200 out patients a day and those seeking medical attention often have to wait their turn. Moreover, Labor Hospitals can only be accessed by those close to Yangon or Mandalay. As majority of the country’s population live in the countryside, most do not have access to these hospitals. |
Funding Majority of these hospitals are financial constrained. Starting 1998, a 5 year plan was undertaken with the objective of updating hospitals under the Ministry of Health which received an annual budget of approximately $ 4 million USD for the entire country for each of the 5 years. Although some headway was made, funding was spread very thin. Since then funding has been irregular, receiving minimal funding at times while a few million during other years. Labor Hospitals have also been receiving irregular funding. Military hospitals are probably the best and most regularly funded. But even then, funding cannot be described as plentiful. |
Situation Majority of hospitals lack sufficient diagnostic tools and crucial medical equipment such as ultrasound machines, ECG machines (Electrocardiogram) and oxygen concentrator just to name a few. Even in the largest hospitals in Yangon, oxygen concentrators are at best only available to half of those who need it. Oxygen is crucial for patients in ICU and those with respiratory diseases. C sections which are normally conducted with 6 clamps to stop bleeding at incision points are only conducted with 2 clamps in Myanmar. Doctors instead are trained to quickly sew wounds shut. In the cancer ward of Yangon’s only children hospital, cancer patients have to share a few infusers and wait their turn for medical treatment. The above hospital scenarios are common within the hospitals of Yangon. Hospitals outside of Yangon face even greater need. |
Doctors Doctors are well trained in Myanmar as each year over a million students go through a rigorous selection process where only 100,000 proceed on to medical school where they follow the British medical curriculum; and out of those, only 1000 will graduate to become certified doctors. However half of the graduates usually end up overseas, a quarter in the private medical sector and the remaining 25% will serve in the public sector. Prior to 1992, public sector doctors were paid $ 7 USD/month, since then it has been raised to $ 80 USD/month. Most doctors supplement income by practicing outside of public hospitals during after hours. Despite the given conditions, doctors do the best they can, but are constrained by the lack of sufficient medical equipment. |
Many hospitals either do not have any or sufficient basic medical equipment to offer quality healthcare to patients. i Love Myanmar is looking into donating such medical equipment to raise the level of healthcare the people of Myanmar receive. |
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