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The Southeast Asian country has faced the largest COVID-19 outbreak to date. Furthermore, the deep political and economic crisis led to a military coup in February, according to The Guardian. Myanmar’s vaccination campaign has stopped, investigations are no longer ongoing, and Republican hospitals are barely functioning.
Doctors who protest the junta and refuse to work in hospitals are forced to treat patients in secret because soldiers can be beaten or arrested at any time.
“The exact number of illnesses and deaths in Myanmar is unknown,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, in an interview with The Guardian. Since journalists and doctors are the target of the military, it is difficult to obtain reliable information about the crisis.
“We know that the number of cases is growing and that the growth is very fast, which is of great concern,” Andrews added.
According to the Ministry of Health and Sports controlled by the army, since June 1. COVID-19 claimed the lives of 4,629 people. Still, the actual number is likely higher. July 27 Army-controlled media reported that 10 new crematoria would be built in a cemetery in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, as existing crematoria no longer have time to burn the remains.
“You will often see three rows in Rangoon,” Andrews continued. – At ATMs, in oxygen cylinders (it is very dangerous to do this because Myanmar soldiers are shooting people waiting in line on oxygen cylinders) and in crematoria and morgues.
There is a serious shortage of medical oxygen, medical equipment and medicines in the cities of the country. Outside the house, people display yellow and white flags indicating they need food or medicine, and social media is awash with begging and reports of death.
The army is accused of seizing medical oxygen supplies. The military ordered suppliers not to sell oxygen cylinders to ordinary residents because people allegedly stored oxygen cylinders.
Andrews said other countries, including Myanmar’s neighbors, must take swift action, otherwise they will see the consequences of an uncontrolled outbreak of coronavirus on their borders.
“Myanmar is becoming a superdistributor of COVID-19.” Delta and other extremely dangerous, extremely deadly and highly contagious coronavirus strains are rampant in the country … The situation is extremely threatening for a number of reasons, “he explained.
“Everyone is aware that COVID-19 does not choose by nationality, territory, ideology or political party. This disease kills everyone equally. “As Myanmar becomes a super-distributor of the coronavirus, the region faces even greater suffering,” he added.
The countries bordering Myanmar are home to about a third of the world’s population. Among these countries is China, which, like Russia, has thwarted previous attempts by the Security Council to pressure the Myanmar military.
In February, the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in all conflict-ravaged Myanmar states so that health workers can safely vaccinate the population against COVID-19. Andrews said the resolution should be reaffirmed in light of the crisis in Myanmar. This would allow greater support to international agencies.
July 28 The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that the head of the board, Min Aung Hlaing, spoke at the meeting about [Pietryčių Azijos valstybių asociacija] and friendly states to prevent, control and treat COVID-19. “Details of the collaboration are unknown.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, junta forces have carried out at least 260 attacks on medical personnel and medical facilities, killing at least 18 people. The army detained at least 67 health workers and issued another 600 arrest warrants to arrest the doctors.
In the penultimate week of July, army officers in Rangoon allegedly pretended to be COVID-19 patients to catch medical volunteers. Three doctors were arrested upon arrival, the independent Myanmar Now news agency reported.
At least 5,630 people are being held in various detention centers, including the Insein prison in Rangoon, where there has been a coronavirus outbreak. July 20 Insein prisoner U Nyan Win, a former lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi and a high-ranking member of the National League for Democracy, died of the coronavirus.
Soldiers have killed at least 931 people since February (including protesters, politicians, and bystanders).
There is strong evidence that crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in Myanmar, Andrews said: I would not take to the streets [protestuoti]because he’s going to shoot you in the forehead. And these are not empty threats. “
The Special Rapporteur added that an international response was needed more than ever: “The people of Myanmar are losing hope that the international community will care about what is happening in the country.”
The risk of super-distribution is forcing the world to cooperate with the regime
The uncontrolled outbreak of the Myanmar virus to wealthier countries donating COVID-19 vaccines and protective products poses a difficult dilemma: to work with generals who have overthrown the civilian government, or to allow the situation to finally get out of hand?
Since the coup took place more than six months ago, the number of virus cases and deaths has increased dramatically. The country has officially reported several hundred deaths every day for the past month, but doctors say the true numbers are exponentially higher. The true extent of the catastrophe is unknown, as many citizens avoid health care facilities, which have recently become the target of military attacks.
Despair increases. International aid groups and even a parallel government of National Unity, challenging the legitimacy of the junta, are calling on other countries to extend humanitarian aid and help Myanmar handle the situation, even if it means cooperating with a regime that has become an international parity.
“Sometimes you inevitably have to ‘shake the devil’s hand’ to reach people who need help and support,” said Moe Thuzar, a researcher at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
The threat of an uncontrolled outbreak is not limited to Myanmar, which is already suffering from civil conflict, prosperous poverty, food shortages and economic recession.
From India to China
The country is located in the heart of Asia and its neighbors are China, Thailand and India, accounting for about 40 percent. all the world’s populations and generating $ 20 trillion in the global economy. The region’s borders are permeable even in the days of COVID-19: allowing the virus to spread in Myanmar represents an opportunity for the development of new strains, which could lead to further unrest.
Diplomats and doctors warned that half of the country’s population may have contracted the virus in recent weeks, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, stressed that the country was “at serious risk of becoming in COVID-19 superdistributor. “.
“If more infections occur in one place that spread in large numbers and are out of control, more can spread to other places and new strains are more likely to develop,” said Peter Collignon, infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at the Australian National University. “That is why vaccination is necessary.”
Although health experts warn of cross-border consequences if the virus is allowed to spread uncontrollably, donors are still hesitant to take action, such as donating vaccines, as this could be seen as endorsement of a regimen that has killed nearly 1,000 protesters.
Suspension of assistance
Countries that once supported Myanmar stopped him after the coup. The United States and some of its allies have led international efforts to sanction the military, while other states have also pursued policies of limiting contacts or total dissociation.
The country’s top military officials have said they are willing to accept the UN proposal to integrate healthcare workers into local COVID-19 prevention, despite ongoing conflicts with medical personnel. They also mentioned the possibility of collaborating with armed ethnic groups on a vaccination program, although it is not clear how this will be implemented in practice.
Myanmar has received 8 million doses of vaccines from India and China, but only slightly more than 3 percent. of the 55 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated, said Khin Khin Gyi, director of new infectious diseases at the Ministry of Health.
The military government is determined to vaccinate half the country’s population before the end of the year, although supply constraints could cause difficulties. On Monday, the military announced that an agreement had been reached with the manufacturers to purchase an additional 24 million doses.
Under the previous government, Myanmar has secured enough supplies to vaccinate 20 percent. its population under the Covax initiative, supported by the World Health Organization, which aims to vaccinate lower-income countries. Myanmar is expected to receive 4 million doses of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine in the third quarter, thanks to the organization.
Although the United States announced last week that it would provide $ 50 million to humanitarian partners in Myanmar, it did not donate the vaccine, despite millions of doses to other countries in the region. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that the government is working with the UN and other international organizations to provide direct assistance to the people of Myanmar, but did not comment on the lack of support for vaccines.
Objectives: hospitals
The COVID-19 outbreak in Myanmar unfolds differently than in other Southeast Asian states, where health facilities were overcrowded and workers struggled to find extra oxygen and hospital beds. In contrast, many Myanmar citizens avoid local hospitals after attacks on medical personnel made international headlines.
According to a report by the nonprofit group Insecurity Insight, which monitors threats to people living and working in dangerous environments, more than 250 acts of violence against health workers and their institutions have taken place in Myanmar in the last five months.
Events include raids on hospitals, demolition of COVID-19 treatment centers, and arrests and injuries of doctors and other medical personnel.
Especially aimed at those who belong to the civil disobedience movement, the group noted.
However, hospitals in Yangon, the largest city, are likely to soon exceed capacity, and local cemeteries are already overcrowded.
Cooperation with the board is only part of the picture, as aid agencies have to struggle to move from development aid to humanitarian aid, said Jason Mills, who is temporarily in charge of the Doctors Without Borders mission in Myanmar. . It is more difficult to obtain visa approvals and attract staff, and the lack of cash in banks makes it difficult to finance operations.
Therefore, much of the responsibility for vaccination falls on the military, who is neither supported nor trusted by Myanmar society. Furthermore, it has few allies abroad and is trying to quell the civil conflict on several fronts at once.
“When it comes to the de facto government’s ability to strengthen vaccination, it will be challenging,” Mills said. “It will not be easy to achieve this in such a politicized and political environment.”
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