Medicine shortages take toll on Kyaukphyu Twsp island 

By Admin 16 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
16 August 2024, Kyaukphyu

Islanders who live on Myo Chaung Island in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township are suffering from shortages of medicines.

Patients who need emergency healthcare and those suffering from chronic conditions are particularly at risk, said residents.

“There are no medicines for patients who are acutely ill. Sometimes, we can’t find basic medicines for fever and cough. Even if we can find medicines, their prices are four times higher than the rates before the fighting,” lamented a resident.

Myo Chaung Island is a two-hour boat ride from Kyaukphyu Town. There are 33 villages on the island, with two rural healthcare centres and eight sub-centres.

Before the shortages, these healthcare facilities could largely meet the healthcare needs of the islanders. But they are short of medicines as the Public Health Department based in Kyaukphyu Town has stopped supplying them following the resumption of hostilities between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA).

A female healthcare worker on Myo Chaung Island said: “We can’t carry any medicine [to Myo Chaung] even if we buy it with our own money. Some of my colleagues have contacts and they can buy some medicines. But it is not enough for the whole island.”

The regime blockaded transportation routes linking Kyaukphyu Town with rural villages in Kyaukphyu Township following the restart of fighting in November. It has also barred the transportation of pharmaceuticals to rural villages from Kyaukphyu Town.

Some rural villages close to Kyaukphyu Town have managed to buy and transport some medicines, but Myo Chaung’s villages have not been among them, said residents.

Another Myo Chaung islander said: “My mother has diabetes. However, we can’t buy [modern] medicines and she has to take herbs instead. People with asthma also can’t find medicine. People on medication are having a hard time.”

Military tensions are running high in Kyaukphyu Township, with the AA surrounding the junta’s Danyawadi naval base and police battalions.

Residents from some 30 villages across Kyaukphyu Township have been forced to flee their homes due to regime’s raids and artillery strikes.