Intrepid health workers travel for days by foot, bike and boat to reach isolated Naga villages in Myanmar’s northern fringes where many still rely on traditional remedies prescribed by shamans.
Science and Shamanism: Medicine Meets Myanmar’s Far-Flung Naga Tribes
With malaria and tuberculosis screening out front and sacrifices to jungle gods out back, health worker Htan Pi and her shaman mother are an unlikely double-act in their isolated Myanmar village. Their family have been the local healers for generations in the northern community of Satpalaw Shaung near the Indian border.
EVERY DAY BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES
Ye Min Naing has been working for the village health worker (VHW) programme of Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) in Paletwa Township, Chin State, since June 2017.
The VHW are based in remote communities and provide malaria screening and treatment services, conduct tuberculosis case finding and patient follow-up, deliver a basic health care package, and refer people with health emergencies to the hospital.
COVID-19 — Please donate
If you would like to help us help our friends in MAM our Bank details are:
Friends of Medical Action Myanmar
Lloyds Bank, High St, Andover
Sort Code: 30-90-21
Acc number: 42199160
Please help – here are some of the items we need urgently:
| Oxygen concentrator + pulse oximeter + oxygen masks | £4000 |
| Sodium hypochlorite solution | £60 |
| Stocks of hand gel | £170 |
| Infrared Thermometers | £2,600 |
| Patient referral support (taxi fare or ambulance hire or hospital costs) | £3,700 |
| Clinic Staff transportation | £2,850 |
| PPE (Gloves, face shields, apron, caps, surgical gowns) | £6 per set – we have 50 clinic staff – we are hoping to cover them for 8 months |
DAW NU NYIE: A HERO INSIDE THE COMMUNITY ON THE FIGHT AGAINST TB
Community volunteers are front-line heroes in the fight against TB in the community. Read more about Daw Nu Nyie, a community volunteer trained by Medical Action Myanmar in Myitkyina, Kachin State.
Myitkyina, capital city of Kachin State in northern Myanmar, is one of the townships with the highest TB burden in the country. Widespread drug use and the associated high prevalence of HIV infection worsen the situation. Read the rest of the story.