Dozens of IDP children from Pauktaw displacement camp suffer skin disease

By Admin 15 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
15 June 2023, Pauktaw

About 60 Muslim children under the age of 5 living in Hnget Chaung internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State, are reportedly suffering from skin disease.

Ko Maung Maung Than, an IDP, said that after Cyclone Mocha hit Arakan State, rashes appeared on children’s chests, abdomens, and faces.

“I don’t know what the disease is. About 30 percent of 100 children have this disease. Some children can’t even open their eyes. The children suffered from this skin disease after Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Arakan State,” he added.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been providing healthcare services to IDPs at the displacement camp in the past, but the charitable group has not come to the camp since the junta imposed travel restrictions on local and international organisations providing humanitarian aid to those in need in Arakan State, he said.

“Previously, MSF provided us with healthcare services. The charity has not come to the displacement camp as the local government has not given permission,” Ko Maung Maung Than explained.

Children suffering from skin disease were taken to Chaunggyi Village in Pauktaw Township by boat and treated by a medical expert.

“Many children come to my clinic. There are five to 10 children who come to my clinic in a day. A symptom of the children is that when the rash on the body is itchy, scratching can cause sores and pus. Some children may undergo surgery,” said U Kyaw Win Chay, a medicine practitioner from Chaunggyi Village.

He continued that the Muslim children who come to the clinic may have skin rashes, warts, boils and other ailments, with these problems requiring good hygiene to avoid developing rashes due to heat.

Muslim IDPs want the relevant departments to visit the IDP camps to provide proper healthcare services due to the outbreak of skin disease among children.

Hnget Chaung displacement camp 2 is home to 5,268 IDPs. Out of 768 shelters at the displacement camp, 253 shelters were destroyed by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall over Arakan State with destructive force on May 14.