Plan to bring healthcare to people with disabilities in Sittwe and Ponnagyun

By DMG 12 Nov 2021

DMG Newsroom
12 November 2021, Ponnagyun 

The Shwe Min Thar Foundation (Myanmar) said healthcare services will be provided for people with disabilities in Arakan State’s Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships for the next 18 months. 

U Myat Thu Win, chair of the foundation, said the initiative will involve collaboration with the Access to Health Fund, a multi-donor fund managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). 

“When I met with people with disabilities in villages, I found that they have difficulties with livelihoods. They are weak in health knowledge. So, we have arranged the plan,” he told DMG. 

The health services will also be provided for people with disabilities in Mon and Kachin states. 

Members of Shwe Min Thar Foundation and volunteers have been provided healthcare training since November 11, with the aim of launching the programme in Arakan State later this month.

Services will include providing wheelchairs, crutches and required equipment for people with visual or hearing impairments, as well as medical treatment and other aid, the foundation said. 

By taking a proactive approach, “We want to decrease the population of people with disabilities,”  said U Myat Thu Win. “If a person cannot get medical treatment in time for a cataract, they will become a person with visual impairment.  So, we will provide medical treatment for such patients.” 

Earlier this month, the foundation spoke to DMG about plans to provide basic foodstuffs, medicines and other material support for people with disabilities in Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships. 

There are more than 200,000 people with disabilities in Arakan State, the 2014 census found. According to the census, about 4.6% of Myanmar’s population have some form of disability. 

The number of people with disabilities in Arakan State has increased due to the effects — from landmines to artillery shellings to friendly-fire incidents — of two years of fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army from 2018-20, according to people who are providing help for the disabled.