Internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffering from chronic diseases along the Shan- Kayah border have died owing to lack of access to adequate essential medical supplies according to an official from the Mobye Rescue Team.
Ongoing conflict in the area has forced IDPs to flee into the forest along the Shan-Kayah border for more than two years, resulting in limited access to hospitals and clinics. As a result, IDPs who are suffering from chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes which if properly treated, would normally not prove to be fatal.
An official from the Mobye Rescue Team told the Shan Herald that approximately 20% in IDP camps,are suffering from chronic diseases, and there is a shortage of necessary medicine to provide treatment for them.
“Those suffering from heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are given medical treatment once a month. About 20% of IDPs suffer from such chronic diseases. In some places, they can’t get medical treatment even once a month. The IDPs in the forest are even worse off. There is not enough medicine,” she said.
The Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF) announced on April 1 that the lack of medical treatment has resulted in the loss of 134 IDPs, while 313 have tragically been killed during the fighting in the Shan-Kayah (Karenni) border area in the three years since the military coup.
According to a person providing assistance to IDPs in Hsi Hseng Township, situated along the Shan-Kayah border area, those with chronic illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes are facing many challenges in accessing the necessary medication.
“ Chronic patients have to rely on the nearest clinics. There is no free treatment. If there is a mobile medical treatment organization, the cost is low. Some IDPs who fled the war from the villages that were hit by artillery shells, fell ill and died of heart disease while fleeing the war. They can’t go to the hospital anymore, so they are treated by a quack doctor in the village,” he said.
In 2022 approximately 10 IDPs in Hsi Hseng Township who were suffering from chronic diseases lost their lives due to a lack of access to necessary medication.
