Banning any product is a blunt tool to achieve a political or economic end. Confusion reigns. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++\ Confusion emerges after foreign liquor ban Ei Ei Thu Myanmar Times 21 October 2018 At a liquor store in downtown Yangon, bottles of whisky and wine are on display. Upon closer inspection, one soon notices that wines […]

Breaking through the stigma to discuss mental health is a step by step process. Here is a good start. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Mental illness: Myanmar’s hidden epidemic Elliot Brennan Frontier Sunday, October 28, 2018 A REPORT released last year by the Ministry of Health and Sports showed some modest but important improvements in health indicators. In […]

Just in time to ride the wave of PHC and UHC, some malaria professionals have decided that primary health care is better for malaria than mass treatment. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1172-x Read on, Jamie

Here is a study on NCDs based on two STEPs surveys in Myanmar. https://www.dropbox.com/s/05s4veg1ei3tbkd/two%20steps%20studies%20in%20mm.pdf?dl=0 I have a couple of questions. Why are there no Myanmar authors? Did the people who approve research in Myanmar not see the need for Myanmar people to be involved in research in Myanmar? Are STEPs surveys sensitive enough to pick […]

What *is* the “essential package of health services” to be provided by 2020? Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Caring for the most vulnerable Margarite Clarey Frontier Tuesday, July 10, 2018 WHEN SHE could no longer bear the unremitting headaches, fatigue and searing pains in her chest, Daw Le Le Win, 60, decided to see a specialist. Her neighbours […]

Here are the new country targets for TB control. http://www.stoptb.org/assets/documents/global/advocacy/unhlm/1.%20UNHLM%20on%20TB%20-%20TB%20Country%20Targets.pdf How do you assess Myanmar’s chances of meeting the TB targets in the document? Jamie

Here is a piece on death on ART in Myanmar. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0204550&type=printable Jamie

Good to see the Turkish news agency is publishing stories about Myanmar. They also have an extensive series of stories about other issues there: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/search/?s=rohingya This is the first time I have heard that the People Health Foundation is targeting betel farmers to encourage them to substitute crops to decrease betel supply. Sounds like a […]

There are 10,000 bites from cobras and vipers in Myanmar a year. Few need antivenom injections. Ten times too much is produced. This seems to me to be a health care delivery problem. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Govt to Supply Rural Communities With Antivenom to Reach Farmers Moe Moe The Irrawaddy 16 October 2018 NAYPYITAW — Snake […]

I wonder what kind of treatment for drug use disorders will be offered at the new drug centre funded by the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation. And opened by Suu Kyi today. Will it be evidence-informed? Will it be religious? Will it be mandatory? Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Open Drug Rehab Center […]

“There was no evidence that the supply chain issues interrupted treatment for any patients who were already receiving care”. The article should have stopped there. Chemonics did a remarkable job in ensuring no treatment interruptions. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ ‘Significant mistakes’ in USAID global health supply chain, House says Teresa Welsh Devex 16 October 2018 WASHINGTON — […]

Here is a quote from a transcript of an NHK interview with Suu Kyi: “So, from the social and… social point of view, health and education we have much to be… to be happy about, because the indicators of both health and education, education elements are improving in many directions. And this is the most […]