GESTIÓN EN SALUD PÚBLICA: Medical and humanitarian aid in Myanmar

Medical and humanitarian aid in Myanmar

Bioedge

Medical aid urgently needed in Myanmar

by Xavier Symons | 30 Sep 2017 |

The persecution of the Rohingya population in Myanmar has a decades long history. Yet alleged ethnic cleansing by military forces in recent weeks has prompted international observers to call for immediate international action and massive humanitarian support.

The notorious Tatmadaw national army has allegedly burnt hundreds of Rohingya villages in the past month, leading more than 500,000 residents of the region (half of them children) to flee over the border to Bangladesh. Those who have crossed the boarder lack basic food and medical aid, and those still in the country face a dire threat from the hostile military forces. The Rohingya remaining in Rakhine have been cut off from crucial humanitarian aid since August 25, when Rohingya militant raids triggered the military backlash that plunged the region into crisis.

The Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine are denied citizenship and are instead branded "Bengalis" - or illegal migrants who do not belong in the Buddhist-majority country. Even before tensions escalated between the military and Rohingya insurgents, Muslim communities in Rakhine were receiving regular threats from local Rakhine Buddhists to leave the area.

The editors of The Lancet called this week for humanitarian support to be “urgently deployed to protect the very existence of a ravaged Rohingya population”:

“Bangladesh must be supported to manage the major humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding with risks of infectious disease outbreaks, lack of basic water and sanitation, and exploitation of the population, especially of women and children (around 1000 unaccompanied minors).”

Most of us have an ambivalent attitude towards drug addicts. Can they stop? No, their will power is shot to pieces. Will you invite one home to dinner? No, he’s a drug addict. However inconsistent it might be, we manage to dismiss addiction as morally serious and stigmatize them at the same time.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court is due to hear a case on drug addiction which could have wide-ranging consequences. Julie Eldred, an addict, relapsed while on parole and was jailed. (See story below.) But jailing her was wrong, according to the Massachusetts Medical Society, because opioid use is a chronic illness, not a character defect.

The opposite point of view is represented by 11 addiction experts in an amicus curiae brief. They argue that “Most addicts quit and do so on their own. Addiction seems to be among the most spontaneously ‘remitting’ of all the conditions termed major mental disorders, which is a very inconvenient fact for the position that addiction is a ‘chronic and relapsing brain disease.’”

The outcome of the argument will have immense legal and social consequences. If the addict is helpless in the grip of his or her disease, punishment makes no sense. The whole criminal law would change. To be continued....