Thirty-five people, most of them children, from the Nyaungchaung camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township are suffering from skin problems, according to a camp official.
The cases range in age from children under 5 years old to adults in their 30s.
“About three adults are among those infected with the skin disease,” said Ko Than Aye, the camp’s in-charge. “Some have recovered from the skin disease.”
Daw Mya Mya Aye, an IDP from the camp, said that some children were taken to hospitals and clinics in downtown Kyauktaw for treatment due to sores and difficulty eating.
“Some children with skin infections get itchy and cry because the sores become itchy and painful. Some babies have a sore throat and cannot even breastfeed. Some children were taken to hospitals and clinics in downtown Kyauktaw for treatment,” she explained.
Two nurses from a rural healthcare centre in Thayettapin village, Kyauktaw Township, reportedly provide healthcare services to the IDPs in the displacement camp twice in a week.
“Of the 35 people who are now suffering from the skin disease, some are children who have chickenpox. Others develop ulcers, such as skin rashes, due to the imbalance between heat and cold,” one of the nurses said. “Only a few people see us when we provide healthcare services to the IDPs in the camp. Some have recovered from the disease.”
The camp is located in Nyaungchaung village, about two miles from the Mahamuni Buddha Image in Kyauktaw, and has a population of more than 3,000 displaced people.
