IDPs suffer health problems due to medicine shortages, price hikes

By Admin 19 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
19 August 2024, Sittwe

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in townships across Arakan State are suffering from health problems either because they cannot afford to buy medicines or medicines are short in supply, according to IDPs and volunteers helping them.

Meanwhile, it is difficult to see a doctor at displacement camps, they said.

A member of the charitable Lin Yaung Chi Foundation in Ponnagyun Township said: “While medicines are short in supply, their prices are soaring. So, more and more IDPs can’t afford to receive healthcare treatment, even from nurses.”

The regime has blockaded roads and waterways in Arakan State since the fighting broke out in November, cutting off trade with other parts of the country. Locals in Arakan State have been suffering from shortages of both pharmaceuticals and consumer goods.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting across Arakan State, and many are in desperate need of food, shelter and healthcare services.

A higher incidence of malaria, seasonal flu, fever, and diarrhoea have been reported at IDP camps during the ongoing rainy season, with some cases resulting in deaths.

The Arakkha Army (AA) has urged international and local humanitarian organisations to provide medicines for Arakan State.

The Lin Yaung Chi Foundation member said: “Though we are providing help, we can’t help all the displaced people. They need food, shelter and medicines. We want local and international organisations as well as well-off people to help.”

Local organisations are also struggling to help IDPs. Charity members are themselves displaced by the fighting in many cases, are short of funds, and cannot contact international humanitarian organisations.

One displaced woman from Sittwe said: “When I went to see a nurse for sickness, she could not give the exact medicines that are needed. She could only give medicines that have near similar effects. Because of shortages of medicines and price increases, it is difficult to get treatment for even mild flu.”

Pharmaceuticals are running out in Arakan State as India has also banned the export of medicines into Arakan State via the India-Paletwa-Arakan overland route.

The number of IDPs in Arakan State is likely to increase as fighting has intensified in Maungdaw, Thandwe and Gwa townships.