Govt upping health spending 0.7 percent
Burma’s undernourished health sector will see a rise in government spending of 0.7 percent over the coming fiscal year, as well as an increase in staff numbers and facilities. Still however the rise...
View ArticleFamine threat looms in Chin state
Up to 100,000 people in one of Burma’s poorest regions face starvation after renewed food shortages triggered by a bad harvest, a report due for release this week warns. Testimonial evidence from nine...
View ArticleTortured activist dies days after jail release
A political activist who underwent spells of physical and mental illness resulting from severe torture during his decade in jail in Burma has died only 10 days after being freed. Thet Nwe was among...
View ArticleUN official targets health, job creation
A top UN official urged Burma Friday to ensure that a new reform drive benefits citizens of the impoverished nation in areas such as healthcare and education. Vijay Nambiar, special adviser to the UN...
View ArticleBurma faces HIV and TB crisis after global funding cuts
Up to 85,000 HIV sufferers in Burma will go without life-saving treatment as donor governments slash support for global health programmes in the wake of the economic crisis. Of an estimated 9,300...
View ArticleRefugee fire victims ‘suffering trauma’
Thousands of residents of Umpiem refugee camp left homeless by a fire last week have been sheltering in schools and mosques, with reports that some are suffering from trauma. The fire swept through the...
View ArticleKachin crisis ‘inconsistent’ with reform: US
The United States is concerned about the plight of thousands of people displaced by fighting between troops and ethnic rebels in northern Burma, a US special envoy said Thursday. “We have seen progress...
View ArticleDeadly malaria strain threatens Thai-Burma border
Deadly malaria that is resistant to drug treatment has spread rapidly from Cambodia to the border between Thailand and Burma, raising concerns of an uncontrollable epidemic, scientists said Thursday. A...
View ArticleGov’t peace team visits Mae Tao Clinic
The Burmese government’s Peace Making Work Committee leader Aung Min met with Mae Tao clinic’s founder Dr Cynthia Maung during his visit to Mae Sot this week. Dr Cynthia Maung told DVB the meeting took...
View ArticleAung San Suu Kyi becomes UNAIDS ambassador
Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been appointed an ambassador of the UN’s programme on HIV and AIDS and has been tasked with fighting discrimination against people living with the disease,...
View ArticleKaren torture victim recovering after successful round of operations
The 12-year-old Karen child who was severely scarred after being enslaved and tortured for more than five years by a Thai couple has successfully completed her first round of operations. Thanawat...
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The ability of the disabled
Nearly 10 percent of all disabled people in Burma are currently attending high school, but their chances of getting jobs when they leave are slim, according to a 2012 report by the Swedish...
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Burma’s electricity woes harm medicines, risk lives
The irregular electrical current across Burma is having a severe impact on the potency of various medicines that should be kept at specifically refrigerated temperatures, a senior doctor told DVB on...
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Tuberculosis cases reaching alarming rates in Burma
Health officials called Thursday for urgent action to tackle “alarming” rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Burma where nearly 9,000 people catch the strain of the infectious disease each year....
View ArticleHome deliveries in rural Burma
Burma’s Health Ministry has admitted that the country needs significantly more midwives. Senior health officials recently said that a mere 10,000 midwives are employed to cover 60,000 villages. In...
View ArticleBurma and Japan to boost development ties
Burma and Japan have agreed to step up cooperation on development projects, with a special focus on tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the poverty-stricken country, state media reported on...
View ArticleChicken soup, but not for the soul
Nearly 20 Buddhist devotees who ate chicken and glass-noodle soup before fasting at a local monastery in Irrawaddy division were hospitalised with food poisoning on 4 September. Nu Nu Tin, treated as...
View ArticleMae Tao Clinic to relocate
The Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot will soon be forced to relocate when its land lease expires. The clinic, situated close to the Thai-Burmese border, has been providing free medical and emergency care to...
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Tuberculosis medication to ‘run out’ by October
Vital tuberculosis (TB) medication is running worryingly low across Burma, with medical officials in Rangoon saying supplies will run out by October. Tin Mi Mi Khine, the tuberculosis officer for...
View ArticleMuslim hospital offers relief in Rangoon
From political activists freed after years in Burma’s jails to stricken and impoverished families, all are welcome at Rangoon’s Muslim Free Hospital—a symbol of unity in a country riven by religious...
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