Open this interractive health financing data site, run your cursor over Myanmar on the map, and say “Ouch”. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/fgh/ The government pays almost nothing for health. People pay out of pocket and official development assistance does the rest. Jamie

Another mass treatment magic bullet for malaria. This time it is primaquine. For what diseases has mass treatment ever worked? Not many. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ NEWS RELEASE 24-APR-2019 Tampa, FL (April 24, 2019) – The University of South Florida has been awarded approximately $700,000 in initial funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases […]

It is nice that the Irrawaddy staff can cut and paste from government press releases. But the role of a free press in Myanmar or anywhere else is to ask the five Ws. One of them is ‘Why?’. If the deaths dropped dramatically then why did they do so? I question the accuracy of the […]

Here is the Burmese language summary of the drug law and drug policy review. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4b4EaDfnQG0ZWRpTjFmdWtQYjdQYkNINlROanVKRU5aX3FF Jamie

I can’t remember if it is vaccination week or malaria week but here is a review of the Global Fund regional project on malaria. http://www.aidspan.org/node/4903 The project governance is not centred in a CCM. There are problems with this. Jamie

Interested in community action on NCDs? Specifically on cardiovascular health? Here is a grant opportunity. Apply. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ https://mailchi.mp/f0f1d6c93ee4/links-community-next-round-of-links-one-time-grant-funding-is-currently-open?e=e362d090a9 Types of support LINKS members are eligible to apply on behalf of government and non-governmental organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for limited technical assistance or one-time grants to catalyze or improve country progress toward […]

“Pe Thet Khin initially agreed to be interviewed, but when Frontier managed to meet him at his office in the hospital he declined to discuss the 2014 order, instead asking that a letter with questions be sent.” Jamie ++++++++++++++ The ‘victims’ of baby formula Kyaw Lin Htoon Frontier Monday, April 22, 2019 MA ZAR CHI, […]

Happy Thingyan to all my friends and colleagues in Myanmar. Jamie

First came the law and then came the policy. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0nyZZMxnTv2ZWRpTjFmdWtQYjdQYkNINlROanVKRU5aX3FF/view Jamie

Did you know that the global heads of all UN agencies have agreed on the decriminalisation of drugs? https://www.unsceb.org/CEBPublicFiles/CEB-2018-2-SoD.pdf Even Yury Fedotov of UNODC has signed on. Though you don’t hear him talking about it much. Or Tedros. What is UNODC doing to promote decriminalisation of drugs in Myanmar? Jamie

Here is the Irrawaddy piece on the new TNI report on methamphetamine in Myanmar. It has been out for a while. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/meth-use-rising-in-myanmar-thailand-southern-china-report.html This is a fantastic report. Look at the list of harm reduction ideas on page 22! My only complaint (for now) is that it says methamphetamine use is increasing, meaning more people are […]

“Myanmar, where 27 percent of health care facilities lack water service” https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/04/03/709461530/shocking-new-statistics-about-water-and-hygiene-in-hospitals-around-the-world Jamie