Democracy is not just elections. Social / mass media can work wonders during democratic transition. I'll bet the Mandalay surgical unit got funding for their small generator!

More.

Jamie

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In light or dark, operations must go on
Shwe Yee Saw Myint
Friday, 11 December 2015

A photo that was widely circulated on social media this week cast a light onto the sometimes extreme measures taken in Myanmar’s public health sector. In the midst of an electrical blackout, doctors were seen performing an operation at the Mandalay Central Women’s Hospital by the light of smartphones.

Mandalay Central Women’s Hospital staff perform an operation by the light of mobile phones in a photo that has been widely circulated on social media. Photo: FacebookMandalay Central Women’s Hospital staff perform an operation by the light of mobile phones in a photo that has been widely circulated on social media. Photo: Facebook

Staff at the hospital said the medical team was performing a caesarean section on a woman in labour at the time the lights shut off on December 9.

U Kaung Htet Lin, who posted the photo, declined to speak with The Myanmar Times about the operation and why it was conducted in near-darkness while the hospital has a generator.

But U Thiha, a former staff member who trained as a surgeon at the hospital, said when he was employed there one year ago blackouts were frequent occurrences. He said that power outages hit the hospital about twice per month.

“There are no small generators, only one large one. It takes some time for the large generator to get going, at least 10 to 15 minutes,” he said, adding that the kick-starting process could sometimes take as long as two hours, during which time the hospital would have to continue functioning as best it could.

“The operation room in this hospital has no windows so the electricity has to run day and night,” he said.

The hospital’s superintendent also declined to comment about whether more generators have been requested for the hospital.

Retired medical superintendent U Ba Shwe blamed budget shortfalls.

“They should have enough of a health budget to allow the hospital administrator to purchase small generators to prevent unnecessary delays in restarting electricity with the large generator,” he said.

He added that respiratory and cardiac arrest can occur within a few minutes if a patient is deprived of necessary equipment such as oxygen masks, and during operations acute bleeding and other complications can occur.

Patients and patients’ families in Yangon have reported being told that they must pay for the oil in order start the generators. If they don’t pay, they said, the generators are not turned on.

Myanmar’s paltry healthcare spending is among the lowest in the region, with not quite 4 percent of the national budget dedicated to the anaemic sector.

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/18093-in-light-or-dark-operations-must-go-on.html