2
Feb

Passing of Burma / Myannmar hospice pioneer U Hla Tun

This is a late obituary for U Hla Tun who piloted hospices in Burma / Myanmar. He died in December. Nil nisi bonum but perhaps now that he is gone people with HIV will be allowed into the hospices.

From an Irrawaddy article several years ago ...

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U Hla Tun

After watching his only daughter suffer for years with leukemia before she succumbed to the disease in 1997, U Hla Tun decided to dedicate his own life to helping other terminally ill, and poor, patients.

The certified accountant, in his late 70s, founded his hospice program in Rangoon with his personal donation of US $100,000 in October 1998, making it Burma's first registered charity organization. In its first 22 months, the hospice home care team visited 2,400 poor, terminally ill cancer patients in the capital and surrounding townships. In addition to providing financial aid and food as well as medical and nursing care, the hospice also funds burial rites for the deceased. All hospice services are provided free of charge to patients of any religion and ethnicity.

In September 2000, U Hla Tun completed construction of a 46-bed inpatient care center on five acres of land donated by the government. He now plans to take his services up-country. He has already contributed $100,000 to build Mandalay Hospice, and is receiving financial support from inside Burma and abroad.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/database/2003/vol11.10/cover.html

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