 |
 Home Overseas Projects Thai-Burma Border Projects
Mae Tao Clinic - Burma Children's Medical Fund (BCMF)
Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA is proud to work with the Mae Tao Clinic's BCMF program. The clinic provides essential health care to refugees from Burma and the BCMF supports special needs patients who cannot be treated at the clinic.
mother and sick child at the Mae Tao Clinic
|
The Mae Tao Clinic was established in 1989 by Dr Cynthia Maung. Dr Cynthia, having fled Burma as a result of the pro-democracy riots, aimed to set up a temporary clinic to assist those fleeing the conflict. The clinic has remained, and grown, due to the continuing troubles in Burma. Since its inception the clinic has grown to service refugees displaced by the conflict in Burma, as well as the local forced migrant worker population. The clinic, in addition to providing healthcare, also focuses on training new healthcare workers, strengthening health information systems, supporting community health education, and promoting cooperation among local ethnic and international health organisations. The work of the Mae Tao clinic is vital. With less than 3% of national expenditure allocated to health by the Burmese military, the clinic is increasingly seeing patients referred over the border for treatment by doctors in Burma who do not have the resources to treat them.
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is a partner organisation with the Burma Children Medical Fund, which was established through the Mae Tao Clinic. The Fund was established in response to the number of children presenting at Mae Tao with conditions that could not be treated at the clinic. In order to treat these children it is necessary to transfer them to Chang Mai hospital, this is at an average cost of between US$1590-US$3975. Without this treatment the children would either die prematurely, or live with a severely debilitating condition. The Fund's mandate is to finance the treatment of children 18years and younger that the clinic cannot treat for free on its premises. While children are the focus of the Fund, it also finances special cases in adults that present at the clinic.
The Burma Children Medical Fund has successfully supported the treatment of some urgent cases. These include Aye Aye Nouin, an 8 year old girl who underwent open-heart surgery at Chang Mai hospital and has successfully recovered and returned to Burma; Pwe Nin Wai, a 5 year old girl who also underwent heart surgery at Chang Mai; Mi Soe, a 6 year old girl with an abscess growth at the base of her spine so large it was difficult for her to walk and sleep; and, That Pai O, a 10 year old boy who soon after birth developed a swollen abdomen and could not pass stool, doctors made a colostomy for him to pass stool through and opening in his abdomen, however as he has gotten older the need to reverse the procedure became more urgent, he had surgery and can now pass stool normally.
Despite these successes there are still children who are awaiting treatment and need funds to support the cost of their treatment. These include 2 year old Ma Kyar Phyu, who was born with hydrocephalus, a large head at birth that continues to grow at an unusually fast rate so that her head is disproportionate to her body and requires surgery in order for her to survive.
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA and BCMF hope to provide these patients with a chance at a normal life, where otherwise their situation would mean early death or permanent disfigurement.
|
