Yangon (AsiaNews)
- Chronic Shortages of specialists, neurologists and neurosurgeons in
particular, the rapid spread of diseases resistant to medicines, such as
tuberculosis, and again, basic drugs that are almost unusable, poorly stored
due to frequent black-outs. Myanmar
pots military dictatorship is still far from a developed nation, in spite of
the experts and international investors predictions. In
fact, the potential in the economic sector - thanks to oil, natural gas, raw
materials and energy - that drives the growth of the country, is of no real
benefit for the population. Indeed,
the majority of Burmese have been left behind, with no real improvement of
living standards as shown by a recent survey by the World Health Organization
(WHO), which sees the Myanmar ranked last in a long list made up of 194
nations.
In
a speech to the Senate Burmese Health Minister Phay Thet Khin said yesterday
that throughout Myanmar there are only 15 neurologists. He
admits that - with the exception of Yangon, Mandalay and the capital Naypiydaw
- "there are not enough specialists to be assigned to hospitals in other
counties or divisions." The
situation of neurosurgeons is even worse with only a dozen for the entire
nation. The
Head of the department of Health adds that there is a shortage of urologists
and gastroenterologists, but "there will be no improvements in the short
term," says the minister, because more than 10 years is needed to for a
doctor to specialize in a particular field.
The
widespread lack of structural health care has also added to the increased spread
of serious epidemics resistant to medical treatment. These
include tuberculosis, which is spreading with increasing rapidity in Myanmar
and registers 9 thousand new cases per year (300 thousand in total and among
the highest in the world in relation to population). However,
only a small percentage receive a proper diagnosis and can have an appropriate
medical treatment to fight the disease.
WHO
estimates for last year show that "only 800 patients" were given
adequate medical care out of 9 thousand cases of tuberculosis. The
gap is still "huge," admit the experts, and if urgent measures are
not taken "is likely to increase." The
goal is to cure at least 10 thousand cases in 100 different cities by 2015, but
the outlook is pessimistic thanks to a chronic shortage of funds: of the 55
million dollars needed, 41 million are lacking.
Moreover,
when available, a lot of the drugs are unusable. The lack of regular
electricity supply has a devastating impact on medications, especially those
that require low temperatures such as those used "for cancer, or vaccines
for tetanus and rabies." Some
doctors denounce the death of patients with diabetes, because the drugs have
not been stored at appropriate temperatures and have lost their effectiveness. Moreover,
the central government spends only 3.9% of its gross domestic product for
health care, which is "surprisingly
low" when compared to the data of other countries in the area such as Laos
(4.5% of GDP) and Cambodia (5.6%).