The National
Health Plan (2017-2020) mandated a distribution of 33 types of medicine worth
K85 million, an ambulance and Type C laboratories worth K10 million each.
(Union Minister Dr. Myint Htwe)
When the
incumbent government came into power, two previous separate ministries were
combined to create the Ministry of Health and Sports. The new team met with the
Union Minister of MoHS Dr. Myint Htwe to talk about the various achievements of
the Ministry throughout the 3rd year of the incumbent government.
Q: What are
some notable achievements throughout the previous year?
A: We are only
at 55% of the permitted workforce. We hired around 10,000 more community health
workers from nurses to mid-wives to hospital managers. Around 1000 more
hospitals got additional beds, totaling up to 55,266 new beds along with 200
more additional community health centers/clinics built across the country.
There were
also 10,377 rooms built in the 2018-19 financial year to house our staff as
well as plans to build more. The healthcare budget was increased when the new
civilian government took over – the budget is currently K944 billion from the
Union Government, K152 billion from international entities as well as K35.5
billion set to be loaned. From the budget, around K164 billion has been set to
buy medical equipment and medicines.
Within 2018
alone, the public hospitals treated 3 million in-patients and 12 million
out-patients with 760,000 surgeries operated. The community health
centers/clinics in villages had an additional 14 million people seeking
consultation and treatment. Every month, the centers/clinics provide care and
guidance for 70,000-80,000 mothers. We also opened our Fertility center in the
Central Women’s Hospital and successfully birthed our first test tube baby on
12 June 2018. The Ministry also spent K420 million to install a state-of-the-art
tele-radiology X-ray machines in 3 townships in Mon State. If our budget
allows, we will install these machines in Kachin and Kayah as well since these
are really useful for people who live far from such facilities.
Q: What about
improvements in laboratories and blood-donation banks?
A: The
National Laboratory Department received 22 million Euros along with other Euros
5 million in funding for constructing a world-class laboratory. The laboratory
performed 75,000 tests on pathology and 63,000 on microbiology. We are working
with USCDC, WHO and groups from the UK to get the laboratory ISO 15189
certified. For blood donations, the Ministry was able to distribute 97,000
units of blood for free in 2018. We also opened our first Emergency Life
Support Training Center in January 2019 which aims to educate doctors, nurses
and all health professionals within the country to perform first-aid emergency
response. The general hospitals also received additional pharmacies,
restaurants and stores to accommodate the increasing patients’ guests. To help
prevent public health emergencies, there are health clinics and emergency
response teams in the highway buses stations where there is a lot of people in
a confined space in Yangon city.
Q: Can you
tell us a little bit about the National Health Plan?
A: The
National Health Plan (2017-2020) mandated a distribution of 33 types of
medicine worth K85 million, an ambulance and Type C laboratories worth K10
million each. We expect all townships to be covered by 2021. The Ministry is
also rolling out the DHIS 2 software for health management system for early
detection. There is about 665 hospitals using the software currently along with
the township health departments for healthcare reporting.
Q: What about
capability building in the healthcare sector staff?
A: The first
step for the ministry was to distribute tablet phones which contains healthcare
guides, emergency response plan and other procedural documents. There and
already 11,000 tablets distributed throughout the country with 14,000 more
planned from Gavi Vaccine Alliance. The information is also translated into 55
ethnic languages for distribution as booklets. Other health information is also
posted on our public websites and social media sites and can be accessed
online.
Q: What are
some measures taken towards infectious diseases?
A: In 2012,
22.5 % of deaths in hospitals are caused by infections. The figure has been
reduced to 14% by 2017. For HIV/AIDS, the Ministry is able to supply 166,121
patients with Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) available in 272 townships across
the country. Additionally, we were able to test 1 million expectant mothers in
2018 for AIDS/HIV in an effort to prevent mother to child infections. Thanks to
the public hospitals and clinics across the country, 135,435 TB patients were treated
free of charge with 87% success rate. There are also 55 methadone dispensaries
for drug users with plans to build 14 more. In 2016, there were 110,000 million
people diagnosed with malaria. The number fell to 68,000 in 2018 with only 14
deaths in the whole country in the whole year. The main goal, of course, is to
eradicate it. Dengue is also another concern with 13,000 diagnosed in 2018 with
112 deaths.
Vaccination
programs for infants are also in full force with 11 types of vaccines
distributed around the country. The Union spends around US$6.7 million every
year to buy the necessary shots and is aiming for 100% coverage (we are
currently at 80-90%). Rabies is also another priority. The ministry spent over
K14 billion within the past three years for vaccine shots and treated almost
190,000 people who have been bitten. This significantly lowered death by rabies
to 70 people in 2018 from 99 in 2016. Field Epidemiology Training Programs –
FETP are also being held for public health workers and epidemiologists for
practical training in preventing communicable diseases.
Q: What about
collaborations with other international organizations?
A: We are
working with several international organizations including: Global Fund, Gavi,
Access to Health Fund, USAID, World Bank and ADB as well as UN organizations
such as WHO, Unicef, UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS and FAO. Others include TICA from
Thailand, JICA from Japan and KOICA from Korea as well as 80 other INGOs from
various different fields. We have an INGO profile book to keep track of all the
INGOs active in the country with what they are working on. The Universities
under the ministry also signed 75 MoUs with universities from 75 different
countries.
Q: Can you
explain to us about other improvements that are planned or is in progress such
as human resource capability building?
A: We are
trying our best to enforce laws for the safety of consumers regarding medicine
and food. There has been post marketing surveillance tests on products that are
already on the market with 6746 samples for food and 298 medicine samples
tested last year in 2018. The FDA lab is also ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certified. The
Ministry introduced a Mobile Lab Van which tours around the states and regions.
It has been a great success- the vehicle has sampled 6200 food samples and 264
medicines over the course of 6 months that it has been deployed.
In 2017,
there was a Healthy Myanmar Seminar held to encourage healthy living for
Myanmar citizens. There were 13 decisions that came out of the seminar including
training physical education teachers and installing outdoor fitness equipment
over the state and regions.
Q: Any other
tips for citizens to stay healthy?
A: There is
actually a couple: try to reduce your alcohol, nicotine and betel nut intake,
quit if you can; exercise regularly; reduce the sugar and sodium intake; use
only FDA approved medicine; meditate; vaccinate your children; read about the
health announcements and warnings and go to the hospital if you have any
symptons.
By Khin
Yadana
Photo: Aye
Than
(Translated
by Myat Thu)
Ref; The
Global New Light of Myanmar
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