Children suffering from Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever have been crowding the Bhamo or Manmaw public hospital in Burma’s northern Kachin State, said hospital sources.

The Children’s Ward in the hospital can accommodate up to 20 patients. However there are now over 38 patients and extra bed sheets had to be laid outside the ward in corridors to admit the suffering children, said a local who visited to hospital.

The children in the hospital are under 10 years of age and they are suffering from Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). The patients have to stay in the hospital for at least a week where all treatment costs have to be borne by the patients’ families, said hospital sources.

Some child patients, however, are being taken to the hospital for the day for treatment and taken back home, added residents.

There are child Dengue Fever and DHF Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever patients in every quarter and villages in Bhamo Township but they cannot access treatment at the hospital because their parents are unable to pay the hospital charges. They are recuperating at home, according residents of Bhamo.

In Bhamo, like in other cities in Kachin State, most common people are unable to get admission either in private clinics or government hospitals because their unable to afford the charges, said local residents.

Children stand in front of Manmaw (Bhamo) Kachin Baptist Church, Bhamo, Kachin State. Photo: Kachin News Group.

The Burmese military authorities of Bhamo, as is their habit, have ignored the problem  and have not taken any action against the spread of Dengue Fever and DHF Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever among children in Bhamo township since June, with the onset of the monsoons, said locals.

Currently, both adults and children in Kachin State are suffering from seasonal diseases like Dengue Fever, DHF Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever and Malaria with the rainy season in full swing, according to local people.

Burma’s ruling junta spends 40 to 60 per cent of the national budget on the military and armaments whereas a paltry 0.4 per cent is set aside for healthcare.