Sittwe residents face healthcare woes amid closure of private hospitals

By Admin 17 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
17 October 2024, Sittwe

Private hospitals are closed in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, which remains under the control of Myanmar's military regime, and the residents who are trapped in the city for various reasons are facing healthcare difficulties.

Small clinics as well as large private hospitals such as Aye Nyein, Ziwaka, Tun and Thadar in Sittwe, are said to be closed due to security concerns, regional instability and a variety of other reasons.

The 500-bed Sittwe General Hospital, meanwhile, does not have enough doctors and only a handful of nurses are treating patients.

"It is very difficult for the local residents to deal with health issues. Hospitals and clinics in Sittwe are also closed. Sittwe General Hospital also has few doctors and nurses and no specialists. If the patient has a medical emergency, they face difficulties," said a local woman in Sittwe.

Sittwe residents are facing shortages of medicines, and in many cases the medicines they need for chronic illnesses and pregnant women cannot be found.

"My husband had high blood pressure and heart disease," said another woman in Sittwe. "He was being treated by a doctor at Ziwaka private hospital as usual. As he didn't get the medicine he was taking, he stopped taking it for about one month, and died of respiratory failure last week."

Many residents of Setyonsu, Danyawadi, Ywathayar and Kontan wards in Sittwe, and those who are taking refuge at various monasteries, have no income and cannot go to the hospital if they fall ill. There are also those who cannot afford or access medicines for non-hospital care.

"Almost all people face hardships due to lack of income. I bought medicine and took it only when I got very sick," said a local woman in Sittwe's Kontan Ward.

After the Arakkha Army (AA) seized the vast majority of the towns in northern Arakan State, many Sittwe residents fled to locations deemed safer, fearing that fighting in the state capital might be imminent. However, other residents are still trapped in Sittwe and unable to flee due to transportation, financial, and other difficulties.