Benjamin Shobert, a writer for Forbes did an excellent analysis of the healthcare in Myanmar but here's the short version.
don't get sick. if you are a westerner and you do, head to Bangkok. it would be a mild understatement to say that healthcare in Myanmar is suffering badly from fifty years of neglect. the WHO [World Health Organization] ranked Myanmar dead last out of 190 countries for overall care. malaria is the leading cause of mortality and TB rates are estimated to be three times the global rate.
i've already bitched about how you can't buy aspirin over the counter at a pharmacy, how 40% of the bottled water is still considered unsafe to drink and how the bandaids [plasters] only stick to your skin for about 5 minutes. but that's nothing compared to what i stumbled across one day as i was in a building looking for an office. it was a private pay clinic and there was an overwhelming sense of death and despair. there were bunk beds with patients lined against the walls and nothing looked sanitized. my heart sunk when i realized this is the healthcare system most citizens have to use.
here's the good news ... the military regime has started to give NGOs access to the country [which they previously did not because they didn't trust them] and they are making a real difference in the lives of the people. i met the USA Director of World Child Cancer and was amazed with the work they are doing to provide diagnosis and treatment to children with cancer in developing countries. READ about how they help and please consider a DONATION to support their efforts.
again i heard about someone sick with typhoid. there's a immunization for that so i don't know why people skip it typhoid is bad. there are a lot of other nasty tropical diseases that can't be prevented so you are still rolling the dice every time you walk out the door. malaria is pretty common although somewhat preventable if you incorporate tonic and anti malarials into your diet.
dengue is a different kind of disease. it's not preventable, it's really prevalent in Myanmar and extremely uncomfortable when you get it. the misquitos that carry dengue roam during the day and suspect areas are sprayed every week with what is probably just as toxic as the disease. anything but a mild case is untreatable with the standard of care available in Myanmar. an early diagnosis generally gets you an immediate plane ticket to Bangkok and a more advanced case will get you an air ambulance to Bangkok. it's amazing how incredibly different the healthcare systems have evolved. shame on on the Military Generals who care so little for the people that they have never provided even basic healthcare.
i was ill enough one time to go to the clinic. i woke up feeling miserable. i immediately took a taxi to the international clinic, where as you can see they don't like to take any chances and just send you home with a whole pharmacy of drugs.
part of the reason for the overload of drugs is the international clinic [of which there are several in yangon] is they are the only place you reliably get western quality drugs.
they have local pharmacies that have a few what we would call 'over the counter' drugs but they don't even sell asprin. that's something you have to go to the hospital to get. the local "hospitals" range from basic to really, really scary.
