Many children amongst the 500 displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in Sankar Town, Nyaungshwe Township, southern Shan State are in urgent need of healthcare.

The IDPs have fled fighting and rising tensions between the junta and resistance forces in the Taunggyi District townships of Nyaungshwe, Pinlaung, and Pekon in southern Shan State.

About 3,000 residents have been forced to flee from the Nyaungshwe Township villages of Hpayartaung, Loinwet, Yaepu, Nyaunglaypin, Nangtoke, Konethar, Eainmu, Taungpoetkwe, and Hopang. 500 of those displaced people are currently sheltering in Sankar Town.

Due to seasonal weather changes since 20 February there has been a rise in cases of fever and diarrhoea amongst the IDPs sheltering in Sankar Town, especially amongst the children. A child amongst them who is suffering from leukaemia is also in urgent need of a blood transfusion, according to to an IDP sheltering in Sankar Town who spoke to Shan Herald.

She said: “Many children are falling ill due to the seasonal change, and healthcare support is not reaching us. Some children are seriously ill and hospitalised, while others are suffering from diarrhoea. A child with leukaemia also needs  blood transfusions.”

Currently, the IDPs in Sankar Town are sheltering in the homes of relatives and friends, corn warehouses, and monasteries. They are facing challenges to obtain food and proper accommodation.

Since October 2024, the junta checkpoint in in Hmawbi Township, Nyaungshwe Township, has restricted and controlled the passage of of vital supplies, including rice, cooking oil, fuel and medicine, making it harder for IDPs in the region, which includes Sankar Town, to get such supplies.