The Free Clinic Rakhine, which opened at the compound of Sit Kae Taw Min Monastery in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, needs more donors to be able to run it for a long term, officials of the clinic said.
The free clinic was opened on May 3, 2021, for people who could not afford to access healthcare. Officials of the clinic told DMG that it provided medical treatment to a total of 2,985 people in 10 months.
“People donated at the beginning of the clinic. Now, we face difficulty with operating the clinic due to fewer donors. As we have 50 patients a day on average, we need more medicines. The price of medicines has become expensive now,” said Ko Than Htike Zaw, manager of the camp.
“We have sufficient medicines now, and we have arranged to add more medicines depending on the donation we receive,” he said, adding that the clinic has to expense about K800,000 a month for medicines, and it might face financial difficulty in the long run.
Patients who cannot afford healthcare expenditure from some wards in Sittwe and the needs from refugee camps mainly depend on the clinic, and some Muslims and some people from remote villages also visit it for medical treatment, doctors from the clinic said.
“Most patients are people with diabetes, chronic diseases and hypertension. Some are for their joint pain, or lack of appetite, or skin diseases,” Dr. Kyaw Zaw Thant, who is providing medical service in the clinic, told DMG.
U Abdul Maw Zate, a 66-year-old man from Bumay ward in Sittwe, told DMG: “ I have been suffering from diabetes for nine years. The clinic is good. Doctors are friendly and medicines are given free. I have been here for four months. I heard about the clinic from some patients who reached here.”
Three doctors and five voluntary healthcare personnel are working at the clinic, and they have to provide treatment to about 30 patients a day on average.
Daw Oo Mya Nu, a 54-year-old patient from Set Yone Zu ward of Sittwe, told DMG: “ I have hypertension and growth. And I feel pain in my two legs that were broken and received treatment at the general hospital. This is my second time visiting here. My health problems are relieved after treatment from this clinic.”
The Food not Bombs Rakhine group and young doctors has opened the free clinic to address these local needs.
