The lone protester Ko Min Kyi alias Maung Mae expressed his resentments for not appointing any physician in his town hospital for seven months, said a witness.

Maung Mae staged the protest in front of Ma Ei township hospital at around 8 am and concluded after one hour.

The Ma Ei township hospital in Taungup locality was recently promoted by the government to a sub-township level hospital.

The witness also added that Min Kyi raised a poster reading ‘Ma Ei township hospital has no doctors for 7 months, so we demand for a physician appointed by the central government immediately’.

Min Kyi decided to stage the protest after he felt very bad about the poor patients who were deprived of healthcare services in the locality.

The authority in town did not prevent him of the protest programme, though responsible officers kept an eye on him till the programme ended on 9 am.

One can see a number of hospitals in the entire Arakan State, but few of those have government doctors. In most cases the nurses have to look after the patients.

In the Ma Ei township hospital too, there is no doctors, but only two nurses provide relevant services to the patients. Even the hospital faces shortage of medicines also.

Similarly, there is a sun hospital in Wra Ma village (alias Tan Lwe)closer to Ma Ei township hospital, where no physician is being appointed by the authority.

In Ponn Kyunt township, 16 miles north of Sittwe, there is only a government doctors to look after nearly 200,000 local residents.

U Aung Than Tin, Arakan State mining minister told Narinjara recently that one additional doctor has been posted by the State heath ministry in Yota Yoke sub-hospital. But the local residents argue that they need more physicians including a dentist for the hospital, which has not been fulfilled by the government.