Vector Issue 4 - 2007

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page 2 Mae Tao Clinic School Health Program Ying Ying Liew In December 2006 I decided to volunteer as a medical student for a month in Mae Tao clinic in Northern Thailand. It is a clinic founded by a Karen refugee, Dr Cynthia Maung who fled Burma after the 1988 student uprising. For almost 20 years now, this clinic has been providing much needed free health care services for displaced people on the Thai- Burma border. As a consequence of nearly 50 years of rule by military dictatorship and civil war, hundreds and thousands of people from Burma especially those living close to the border have been victims of forced relocation, which has led many to flee into nearby jungle or neighbouring countries like Thailand for refuge. The Mae Tao clinic is mainly run by ethnic minoritiesʼ refugees and the health workers are locally Medics providing health education trained by the clinic to cope with the most commonly encountered illnesses. I was impressed to find that community health constitutes a large part of the clinicʼs activities which includes a very important School Health Program. This initiative provides preventative health care to migrant school children via simple measures such as vision screening, vitamin A supplementation, height and weight checks as well as health education. One of the schools which left an indelible mark on me was Kaung Myat Parayan Yeik Mon. It is a wooden hut in the midst of dry, barren paddy fields, built close to the homes of the local Burmese migrants. The majority of the migrants are employed as low-paid labourers in the neighbouring Thai owned farms. Conveniently they are able to leave their children at the school, while both parents toil the fields all day. Many similar schools have been built in response to the influx of refugees from Burma, and the large proportion of children. These schools are sponsored by non-governmental organisations or private donors, aiming to provide basic education to many children who may not have the opportunity to go to school at all in Burma. There is no free public education, and many have to pay more than they can afford to obtain an education. The ruling military junta spends less than 3% of the national expenditure on health and 10% on education, while more than 40% of it goes towards military projects (to put this in context Australia spends only 2.5% of its GDP on military expenditures). Schools built locally by provincial villages are constantly under threat by the junta. This is due to longstanding conflicts between the junta and the ethnic minority resistance groups living along the Thai-Burma border. To increase Burmese army control over the local population the junta employs a counter-insurgency strategy known as the Four-Cuts Policy which cuts crucial links (food, funds, recruits and information) between villagers and the resistance groups. Initially villagers are given one weekʼs notice to leave their homes voluntarily. After this period lapses, troops loot the village, destroying all buildings, crops, and stores of food to prevent villagers from returning. Accompanying such forced relocations are manifold atrocities involving executions, forced labour, systematic rape, wholesale destruction of village, crops and confiscation of land. In essence, the children are not safe and sustainable education is more often than not but a luxury. For the children at Kaung Myat Parayan Yeik Mon the medics provided a health talk while I distributed the Burmese health magazines specifically designed for school-aged children. It struck me then that what I was handing out was perhaps one Ersatz blackboard of the few books these children have ever seen. The caretaker had mentioned, basic resources were few and far between. There was no stationery or books. Even the blackboard (the main teaching aid) was only a makeshift piece shift paper tacked to the wall. Many of the children had no proper footwear and trauma to the fingers, toes and skin was common. The school doctor and I treated the childrenʼs minor wounds and injuries using the basic and limited supplies from the clinic. At the end of the day we bade our goodbyes as they looked on from the front gate. The School Health team returned to Mae Tao clinic to document their findings, in hope that for the next visit, they will be able to bring in the necessities to help fill the gap between mere survival and a healthy, fulfilling life. I have donated some pencils, color pencils, notebooks, clothing items and soft toys via Mae Tao clinic to this school upon returning home. To find out more or to become involved, contact Naw Eh Thwa: (win6@loxinfo.co.th) or visit http:// burmachildren.com/index.php/home
News Review Jacqui McDonnell Patents Before People Five years ago Novartis took the South African Government to court , in an effort to overturn the countryʼs medicine act which was designed to ensure the equitable supply of affordable drugs to those in need. Novartis is now waging a similar war in India, where many generic drugs are produced and then supplied to developing countries. This includes more than half of the anti-retroviral drugs used in developing communities in the fight against AIDS. If the company wins its case, millions of people will no longer have access to affordable medicines. To find out more, visit www.msf.org/petition_india/australia. html Picture care of www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au PM now spouts HIV discrimination From the man who believes ʻGlobal Warmingʼ to be an urban myth, he now seems to have been incurably infected by foot-in-mouth disease . Prime Minister John Howard has been quoted as saying that refugees who are HIV positive will be refused entry into Australia, thus condemning many to a certain death. The full story at http://www.smh.com. au/news/national/ban-hivpositive-migrants-pm/2007/04/13/1175971314887.html Tribal Dances and Bed Nets We all saw US President Bush doing the tribal dance last month as part of the promotion of mosquito repellent bed nets for malaria infested areas of Africa, but is this another unsustainable project? We hope not. Find out more at http://allafrica.com/stories/200704251016.html and http://allafrica.com/stories/200704260910.html or to give a gift of a much needed mosquito net to an internally displaced family in Sudan visit: http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com. au/Product.php?productid=43 Protesting for Peace According to the UN the ongoing conflict in Sudan has caused more than 200,000 deaths and led to two million people being displaced. The Sudanese government contests the figures, saying that only 9,000 have died. Last month saw protests take place in 30 countries around the world demanding that world leaders act to prevent further bloodshed in Darfur. To find out more about the protests visit http://www.worldnewsaustralia.com.au/region. php?id=136639&region=5 To find out what you can do go to for the Sudanese people have a look at http://home. vicnet.net.au/~sail/ and http://www.darfuraustralia.org/ IHN Update Fred Hersch The future for international health in Australia is bright and interest in International Health issues amongst Australian medical students is growing. Recently, we have identified a number of challenges and are currently developing plans for the future of the IHN to ensure that International Health opportunities are available for all medical students. There are plenty of interesting international projects and huge opportunities for Australian students to become involved with. The recently held IFMSA GA (MM2007) in Mandurah was a wonderful showcase of what is out there on the international scene. Opportunities International projects Through connections with the IFM- SA, there are many opportunities for involvement in International projects. One such example is the Calcutta Village Project and there are many more. The AMSA IHN will be working with IHGs throughout Australia to ensure Australian medical students know the exciting prospects awaiting them. Supporting new projects Australian medical students wishing to develop new projects will have the opportunity of applying for seed funding. This is an initiative being supported by AMSA and we believe it will encourage more local projects. Project selection will be based on criteria developed by the AMSA IHN in consultation with professionals and academics. Advocacy There are a number of international health issues that students are passionate about. A new focus for the AMSA IHN will be about identifying issues important to Australian Medical Students and representing these issues through AMSA. Challenges Improving Networking Australia suffers from the ʻtyranny of distanceʼ. This year, the AMSA IHN will work towards addressing this. Obviously we cannot change the map, but we can look at ways of utilising technology, structuring the committee and facilitating more faceto-face meetings. Consultation with students As we continue to build the network between medical schools, we need to remain focused on ensuring that communication with medical students remains strong. This is a multi-way medium and it is through working with the International Health Groups (IHG) that this will be achieved. What can you do? Join up with your local International Health Group and get involved in working towards supporting International Health in Australia. To find your local group, go to www.ihealthnet.net/healthgroups page 3
Page 1: Jacqui McDonnell “Mala is an 18-y

Vector Issue 4 - 2007

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