World

Myanmar’s Health System Is in Collapse, ‘Obliterated’ by the Regime

Published

3 years ago

April 19, 2022

Myanmar’s Health System Is in Collapse, ‘Obliterated’ by the Regime

The cosmetic surgeon remained in the center of operating a client when the team of soldiers got in the health center seeking physicians to apprehend. An assistant informed the cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Kyaw Swar, however it was far too late for him to quit the treatment.

Wanting to stay clear of focus, he went out right into the corridor and also accumulated the footwear that he and also his coworkers had actually left outside the operating area door — an indicator that surgical procedure was underway. Minutes later on, the soldiers strolled noisily past the operating cinema.

“If they had actually located us, they would certainly have apprehended us,” Dr. Kyaw Swar claimed. “Yet I will certainly not flee while I am operating a client. It is not a criminal offense for a medical professional to deal with individuals.”

Dr. Kyaw Swar’s close phone call last month came as Myanmar’s safety pressures increase their suppression on physicians that oppose the army junta that took power 14 months back. Physicians have actually gone to the leading edge of an across the country civil disobedience activity that has actually maimed the economic situation, and also the regimen has actually targeted healthcare employees from the beginning.

In current weeks, the safety pressures have actually apprehended physicians at their houses and also medical facilities, withdrawed the licenses of famous medical professionals, looked medical facilities for injured resistance boxers and also endangered to shut healthcare centers that utilize physicians opposing the regimen.

For Myanmar soldiers, that are infamous for swiping from residents, pursuing physicians is likewise a practical means to earn money, because physicians are amongst the nation’s wealthier individuals. Throughout apprehensions, soldiers have actually taken money, gold, precious jewelry and also automobiles worth 10s of hundreds of bucks. Sometimes, military policemans have actually required as high as $5,000 not to close down a personal health center, health center authorities claimed.

Given that the successful stroke on Feb. 1, 2021, soldiers and also the cops have actually apprehended 140 physicians for joining the across the country objection activity, according to the Aid Organization for Political Prisoners, which is keeping an eye on apprehensions. Of these, 89 stay behind bars.

At the very least 30 physicians have actually been eliminated, according to the New York-based Physicians for Civil Rights, which called Myanmar among one of the most hazardous locations worldwide to be a health and wellness employee.

The harassment and also apprehension of physicians that oppose the regimen comes as the nation encounters a proceeding health and wellness emergency situation due to an extreme lack of physicians, a persistent absence of sources and also the closing of lots of medical facilities and also facilities.

In a declaration previously this month noting Globe Health and wellness Day, a civil liberties team, Network for Civil Rights Documents Burma, claimed the Myanmar armed force has actually “undercuted the nation irreparable.”

“The healthcare market is among lots of which has actually been wiped out,” the team claimed.

Virtually one million youngsters are not obtaining regular booster shots, leaving them susceptible to measles and also various other conditions, and also almost 5 million youngsters are losing out on vitamin A supplements, placing them in jeopardy of infections and also loss of sight, according to UNICEF.

Throughout the nation, hardly 40 percent of the populace is completely immunized for Covid-19, and also lots of individuals are left without regular treatment. Required procedures are hard to timetable.

Physicians claim that healthcare has actually boosted rather in current months in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, with lots of medical professionals going back to function. Yet anti-regime physicians approximate that thousands of individuals are still passing away every week due to the collapse of the healthcare system.

One regimen method has actually been to launch physicians from jail on the problem that they disavow the civil disobedience activity and also accept operate at a military-controlled, federal government health center, physicians claimed.

“In conflict-torn locations, it’s even worse than in cities due to the fact that the federal government medical facilities are not going for all and also individuals are primarily in evacuee camps in the forest,” claimed Dr. Wai Myo, that was discharged from Mandalay General Healthcare facility in 2014 for signing up with the objection activity. “So, if something occurs to them, the opportunity of fatality is extremely high.”

A spokesperson for the junta’s health and wellness ministry decreased to comment.

After the successful stroke, hundreds of physicians declined to function for the regimen and also left work in federal government centers. Lots of started using their solutions cost-free at personal medical facilities and also below ground facilities.

In its effort to require physicians to operate in centers it manages, the armed force has actually closed down at the very least a loads facilities using cost-free clinical therapy and also required that personal medical facilities and also facilities turn over the names of individuals and also their case history.

As it hounds anti-regime physicians and also injured fighters, the regimen has actually branded individuals looking for treatment from below ground facilities as “unlawful individuals.”

“What is the factor to apprehend us?” asked Dr. Wai Myo. “Simply for offering therapy? It’s overall rubbish. I intend to be a great person, so I signed up with the civil disobedience activity. I intend to be a great physician, so I’m offering cost-free clinical therapy to individuals.”

Mandalay General Healthcare facility, a significant mentor health center in Myanmar’s second-largest city, has actually gone to the facility of the objection activity because the begin. Physicians in Mandalay have actually been a lot slower than those in various other areas to go back to operate at government-controlled facilities.

Last month, the city’s health and wellness supervisor and also the military general that is Mandalay’s primary leader mobilized personal health center proprietors to a conference and also educated them that the licenses of 14 clinical teachers and also leading professionals at Mandalay General Healthcare facility would certainly be withdrawed, according to health center proprietors that went to the conference.

They alerted that any type of personal health center that employed them — or various other physicians understood to sustain the civil disobedience activity — would certainly be closed down.

The loss of extremely educated physicians can have life-or-death effects for some individuals.

Lieu Shin, a rice farmer from Kalay, 160 miles northwest of Mandalay, remains in hopeless requirement of a kidney transplant, and also his bro has actually consented to contribute one. Yet Mandalay General Medical Facility, the only area in the area where such surgical procedure can be done, no more has a group of physicians efficient in doing the procedure.

Mr. Lieu Shin, 64, was offered just days to live, however remains to hold on with dialysis, which is tiring his household’s cost savings. He criticizes the regimen for his lack of ability to obtain therapy, not the physicians.

“The physicians claimed I require an emergency situation procedure,” he claimed. “Yet there are inadequate physicians at the health center. All I can do currently is await my rely on pass away.”

World

TVLine Items: Ringo Starr Concert Special, Ms. Rachel to Netflix and More

Published

38 minutes ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

TVLine Items: Ringo Starr Concert Special, Ms. Rachel to Netflix and More

Ringo Starr Country Music Special on CBS — List of Performers

World

India steps up diplomatic relations with the Taliban as rival Pakistan loses influence in Afghanistan

Published

1 hour ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

India steps up diplomatic relations with the Taliban as rival Pakistan loses influence in Afghanistan

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India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, met acting Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai last week, making a strong leap forward in bilateral relations.

While India has been gradually increasing its engagement with the Taliban, this latest meeting represents the highest-level talks since the Islamic group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Notably, this was the second meeting between officials from New Delhi and Kabul in just two months, indicating both countries’ readiness to step up diplomatic engagement.

“We shouldn’t overstate the impact of Pakistan’s tensions with the Taliban on India’s stepped up engagement with the Taliban. New Delhi had already taken some small steps toward Taliban engagement soon after the Taliban’s return to power, before tensions crept into the Taliban’s relations with Pakistan,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, tells Fox News Digital.

TALIBAN GOVERNMENT TO CEASE OPERATIONS AT AFGHAN EMBASSY IN INDIA’S CAPITAL

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, addresses the media at the Parliament House in New Delhi on Dec. 7, 2022. (Prakash Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

During the discussions, Misri emphasized the “historic friendship” and “strong people-to-people contacts” between the two nations. Meanwhile, the Afghan foreign minister described India as “an important and economically significant country in the region.”

According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the talks focused on strengthening bilateral relations, addressing security concerns, engaging in development projects and enhancing humanitarian assistance.

India is among several countries actively facilitating trade, aid and medical support to Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. The country, which hosts thousands of Afghan refugees, also pledged to provide “material support” for their rehabilitation back in Afghanistan.

“New Delhi’s outreach to the Taliban is driven by the view that closer engagement can help India better pursue its security and strategic interests in Afghanistan – and these include strengthening trade and connectivity links and ensuring India isn’t threatened by terrorists on Afghan soil,” Kugelman explained.

BIDEN ADMIN’S AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL FAILURES DETAILED IN REPORT

The discussions also touched on enhancing trade via the Chabahar Port in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. India has been developing the Chabahar Port to enable goods to bypass ports in its rival, Pakistan. This strategic port, which lies just across the border from Pakistan, could provide landlocked Afghanistan with an alternative route to receive and send goods, circumventing Pakistan.

Afghan refugees living in Pakistan rally against India in Lahore, Pakistan, Feb. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

The meeting between India and the Taliban could unsettle Pakistan, which shares borders with both countries. India and Pakistan are long-standing rivals, having fought three wars over Kashmir since both countries gained independence in 1947. This meeting also takes place amid deteriorating relations between the Taliban regime and Pakistan, once considered friendly neighbors, as cross-border violence escalates.

PAKISTANI AIRSTRIKES TARGET TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN FOLLOWING SUICIDE BOMBING

The talks occurred just days after India “unequivocally” condemned Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan in late December. These rare airstrikes resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, including women and children. Pakistani officials claimed the strikes targeted militants of the Pakistani Taliban. Islamabad frequently accuses the Pakistani Taliban of using Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.

People gather at the border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Chaman, Pakistan, Aug. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Jafar Khan)

The diplomatic engagement also follows the Taliban’s appointment of an acting consul in the Afghan consulate in Bombay in November, the same month India’s joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs visited Kabul. Although no foreign government, including India, has officially recognized the Taliban administration since it swept to power in 2021, India reopened its embassy in Kabul less than a year after the Taliban’s return to power.

“Islamabad has already seen its relations with its former Taliban asset take a major tumble,” Kugelman, said. “Now it must grapple with the fact that its rival India may fill the vacuum left by Pakistan’s distancing from the Taliban. No matter how you slice it, this is bad news for Pakistan all around.”

BIDEN SAYS HE’S LEAVING TRUMP ‘STRONG HAND TO PLAY,’ DEFENDS HIS RECORD ON AFGHANISTAN

Several factors, in addition to deteriorating Pakistani relations, may have led India to strengthen its relationship with Afghanistan. The weakening of Iran, due to conflicts in the Middle East and internal issues, has diminished its influence over the Taliban. At the same time, Russia, one of India’s closest allies, is moving toward recognizing the Taliban government in Afghanistan, even calling the group a partner in combating terrorism. Moscow perceives a significant security threat from Islamist militant groups across countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East, especially after losing Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Afghan civilians wait to board US military plane

Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at a perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 17, 2021. (AP)

China is also enhancing its connections with the Taliban, causing India to be wary of Beijing’s increasing influence. Additionally, India’s approach may be influenced by President-elect Trump’s imminent return to the White House. The Trump administration initially brokered the U.S.-Afghanistan withdrawal deal. Trump’s re-election could now introduce new dynamics to the region, prompting India to safeguard its long-term interests.

In contrast, the United States has severed diplomatic ties with Kabul since its chaotic withdrawal from war-torn Afghanistan. Washington maintains a policy of sanctions and isolation toward Taliban leaders. But now, nations in the region are evaluating the implications of a new Trump administration for the Taliban.

World

Rescuers recover 36 bodies and 82 survivors from South African gold mine

Published

2 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Rescuers recover 36 bodies and 82 survivors from South African gold mine

Hundreds more survivors and dozens more bodies still underground, according to a miners rights group.

South African rescuers have pulled 36 bodies and 82 survivors from a gold mine in two days of operations, police say, adding that the survivors would face illegal mining and immigration charges.

After nine bodies were recovered on Monday, 27 more were brought out from deep underground on Tuesday, police Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said in a statement.

Police began laying siege to the mine about 150km (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg in the town of Stilfontein in August and cut off food and water for months to force the miners to the surface to arrest them as part of a crackdown on illegal mining.

Hundreds more survivors and dozens more bodies are still underground, according to a miners rights group that issued footage on Monday showing corpses and skeletal survivors in the mine.

Rescue operations, which involve the use of a metal cage to recover survivors and bodies from a mine shaft more than 2km (1.2 miles) underground, will continue for days. Police said they would provide a daily update on numbers.

Typically, illegal mining takes place in mines that have been abandoned by companies because they are no longer commercially viable on a large scale.

Unlicensed miners, often immigrants from other African countries, go in to extract whatever is left.

‘A war on the economy’

The South African government has said the siege of the Stilfontein mine is necessary to fight illegal mining, which Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe described as “a war on the economy”.

He estimated that the illicit precious metals trade was worth 60 billion rand ($3.17bn) last year.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in November: “We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out.”

But a court ruled in December that volunteers should be allowed to send down supplies to the trapped men, and another edict last week ordered the state to launch a rescue operation, which began on Monday.

“All 82 that have been arrested are facing illegal mining, trespassing and contravention of the Immigration Act charges,” police said in a statement, referring to all those pulled out alive on Monday and Tuesday.

The statement added that two of them would face additional charges of being in possession of gold.

The government crackdown, part of an operation called “Vala Umgodi” or “Close the Hole” in the isiZulu language, has drawn criticism from human rights organisations and local residents.