Skin diseases have become endemic in the Rakhine State townships of Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Pauktaw, with residents facing difficulties in getting effective medication.
Skin diseases with a variety of symptoms, including skin rashes, red spots, and water blisters are affecting people of all ages.
A health worker form Kyauktaw Township said: “Skin diseases are particularly common in IDPs camps due to overcrowding, insufficient clean drinking water, and poor personal hygiene. However, in other rural areas, the prevalence is higher due to issues such as unclean water and allergic conditions.
The disease spreads differently in different types of areas, with it spreading faster in more densely populated areas. Health professionals are advising people to pay attention to their personal hygiene to help control the spread of skin diseases.
The incidents of skin disease have been rising in the Ahtatmyathlae and Pannnila IDPs camps in Ponnagyun Township.
An IDP from Ponnagyun Township said: “Even though we use topical ointments and oral medications, the symptoms disappear only temporarily and then return. Even if the fluid is drained from the water blisters, new sores appear at the sites where the fluid had been.”
Currently people are only able to use Burmese made skin ointments, but they are not produced in large numbers so patients would normally have to turn to foreign produced skin ointment. Unfortunately, foreign skin ointments are currently very hard to obtain and their scarcity has meant that prices are greatly inflated and they cost more than 10,000 MMK a tube if they can be found.
A woman from Ashae Phayonekar Island, in Pauktaw Township said: “In our village, the number of people with such skin diseases has increased recently. It could be said that the entire village is affected. There is no medicine available for treatment. People are bathing in hot water and applying herbal remedies.”
Health professionals say that this outbreak of skin disease is just a continuation of a cycle of rashes and infections that have been spreading throughout the Rakhine State population since Cyclone Mocha hit the state in May 2023.
The junta has also blockaded both overland and waterway access to Rakhine State which has caused a shortage of all kinds of medicines throughout the state.
At the end of August it was also reported that Skin rashes have become endemic in some villages and IDP camps in the eastern part of Demoso Township, Karenni State, according to residents.
