Living conditions for people with disabilities in Myanmar, including access to healthcare and livelihoods, have worsened since the February 2021 coup, according to caregivers who spoke to Than Lwin Times.
People with disabilities make up nearly 13 per cent of the country’s population and since the coup they have struggled to survive. they have faced setbacks in all areas of their lives, including livelihood, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.
Those who previously assisted them have been forced to prioritise their own families and livelihoods due to post-coup economic hardships that have left them unable to assist disabled people with healthcare and other needs.
Skyrocketing prices of basic food items and medicines have made it increasingly difficult for people with disabilities to afford to pay for their regular medication or to attend clinics.
A caregiver working with disabled people said: “Access to healthcare for people with disabilities has reached its lowest point. When they can't afford medicine, they have no choice but to endure their situation. I can't definitively say that people with disabilities are dying because they can't afford medicine, but this reality applies to many. Everyone is struggling to make a living, but at least able-bodied individuals can find ways to navigate through hardship. For people with disabilities, however, the challenges are far more severe.”
The 2015 Disability Rights Act mandates that the government provide special care for people with disabilities, including financial support for those unable to work. the Act also says that various departments and organisations need to focus on on creating education, healthcare, employment, and rehabilitation opportunities for people with disabilities.
However, under the coup regime, people with disabilities no longer receive financial support and are losing their healthcare rights.
U Zaw Lin Tun, the chairman of the Myanmar Coordination Committee for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities (MCERP), said that there have been instances of people with disabilities dying from starvation and lack of access to medical care in areas where there is fighting.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “In conflict-driven displacement situations, providing healthcare to those in need is extremely challenging. Furthermore, the junta has imposed strict blockades on the delivery of medicine. We have received reports that, in the past month, five people with disabilities in Chin State have died due to a lack of food and medicine.”
Approximately six million people in Myanmar with disabilities are facing challenges and more than half of them are women, according to data released by the United Nations (UN) and several international agencies on 3 December 2024, the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
During a UN General Assembly meeting on 1 November 2024, U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the UN, said that the junta is subjecting people with disabilities to targeted attacks, arrests, torture, and killings.
The number of people living with disabilities in Myanmar is expected to rise significantly due to injuries sustained as a result of conflict, including junta airstrikes and artillery shelling throughout the country, according to people who care for those with disabilities.
