A nursing home in the Arakan State capital Sittwe is in need of healthcare helping hands, according to officials from the elderly care facility.

Though a retired nurse visits to provide healthcare services from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, there is additional need, said U Saw Win, the facility’s supervisor.  

“We want physicians and doctors to come and address medical care [needs] once a week,” he told DMG.

Previously, doctors and nurses from the local traditional medicine hospital came once a week for medical checkups, but they do not come now, said another official from the nursing home.

A basic clinic exists at the nursing home currently, but elderly people have to visit proper hospitals or private clinics for more serious and emergency medical needs.

U San Kyaw Thar, a 71-year-old man at the nursing home, said: “A nurse is hired for the clinic at the nursing home and she gives us the required medicines. If there is a doctor and sufficient medicines here, the number of elderly people who need to visit hospitals or private clinics will be lower.”

Daw Ma Aung Thein, a 72-year-old woman at the nursing home, told DMG: “They do everything they can. If we are sick, they give us pills, multivitamins and injection treatment. If the illness is worse, they send us to private clinics. We do not want to go to hospitals or private clinics. We want to get treatment here.”

There are 10 elderly men and 36 elderly women at the nursing home, and nine of the women are said to be in poor health.