Myanmar is short for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar - previously called Burma.
It is the second largest country in South East Asia.
Along Western Coastline is Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The land borders Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand.
A Rich History Earlier civilisations were followed by the Bagan (or Pagan) Empire that started in the middle of the 11th century. This formed the foundation of the Burmese language and culture and Theravada Buddhism was established; however the Mongol invasions and a number of warring states led to the downfall of the Bagan empire within 250 years.
Taungoo Dynasty
The Taungoo Dynasty reunified the country from the mid 16th century for the next 200 years. At its peak, it was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia including Upper and Lower Burma, Dehong (region of Yunnan), Siam (Thailand), Manipur (NE India) and Lan Xing (a large region of Laos). This dominance was short lived, when in 1599 the kingdom became smaller and more manageable. A legal and political system where heredity chieftainship were replaced by appointed Governors was introduced. The administrative reforms greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs and resulted in improved trade and economic conditions and that lasted well into the 19th century when the Konbaug Dynasty came into power.
The British conquered Burma after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th
century and the country became a British colony. Burma became an
independent nation in 1948, initially as a democratic nation and then,
following a coup in 1962, a military dictatorship which formally ended
in 2011.
The Road Ahead Today
the countryside is adorned with beautiful towering gilded
pagodas, spectacular archeological sites and beautiful beaches and
stunning mountains together with a backdrop of a rich and fascinating
culture. Despite the blight of civil war and economic stagnation, the
future looks bright and tourist numbers are increasing. A sense of optimism for the future exists and both the press and people openly debate the country's politics - topics such as reforms and a new constitution are now openly discussed by people in a way they haven't dared to for over a generation.
However, Myanmar today has
one of the world's widest income gaps due to a large proportion of the
economy being controlled by supporters of the former military government. A very low level of human development has left a large part of the population with inadequate basic needs. Spending on the armed forces is in excess of 20% of total Government outlay whilst Healthcare is only 4%. Urgent assistance to improve the general health of the peoples in the poorer regions together with the need for humanitarian works is acknowledged by most NGOs and welfare aid organisations.
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| Service above Self |
Rotary:"Service above Self"
In a word, the guiding concept of Rotary is Service.
Great humanitarian work is undertaken in both local communities and internationally by 1.2 million Rotary club members around the world.
Rakhine Humanitarian Medical Mission in Myanmar 2014-2015
What we set out to achieve:
"The prevalence of hypertension and
Diabetes is very high in Burma, our main purpose of the medical mission is to
screen, detect, educate, and treat these individuals. This will prevent them
from having Stroke, Heart attack, Heart failure, Kidney failure, Blindness and
certain cancers. We will. of course, treat all the patients who attend
our clinic regardless of color, race, religion, etc.
Once we detect the illnesses, we will give initial treatment and refer patients
to their local doctors for follow up.
"
Dr Eddie Aung-Gyi Lim, MD, MBBS, MRCP, FRCP, BC Internal
Medicine. ---(Board Certified in Internal Medicine)
Lead Physician of Rakhine Medical Mission.
How:
A mission set up by Dr Saw Mra Aung Family and Suu Foundation (in honour of Nobel Peace Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) comprising of 54 Rotarians from 6 countries was formed and will work in Arakan/Rakhine District of NW Myanmar in Late
Dec 2014 / early January 2015. Some local nurses are expected to help like from last year
Many members of this mission were previously part of the inaugural mission that took place a year earlier, so the requirements
and arrangements are modelled on the previous mission's experience and learnings.
17 volunteers are on the
Medical team - mostly specialists, doctors, nurses and one pharmacist. The medical team expects to treat and consult about 3,000 patients (currently registered number) over the space of 3 to 5 days.
The other teams
assembled comprised of Dental, Health education, Water Purification, Hygiene specialists; together with a Schools refurbishment project and an
English camp.
The Burmese counterparts are Arakan National Party Central committee member, Mrs Tin May Aung and Influential Buddhist monk and Dean of the Monastic order and University, Vererable Ashin Kumara - UZin Blue and the most venerable Alodawpyei Sayadaw Dr. Bhaddanta Ariyawansa. whose guidance, imprimatur and influence paved the way for the mission to take place.
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The Holiness Van Alodawpyei Sayadaw meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the meditation centre.
(Picture: Alodawpyei local news, Dec 2014) |
Prior Rotary sponsored support to the mission centre.
Mission Supporters:
Rotary is voluntary organisation with all expenses and funds paid or collected by Rotarians fully expended on the projects and causes undertaken. All mission members paid their own airfares and related costs to come to Myanmar.
In January this year, the team members who went reported they had to buy many supplies like pain killers (Paracetamol, Ibuprofen), stomach medicines (H2 blockers, PPIs, antacids, anti-spasmodics, anti-diarrhea), antibiotics, etc in Yangon (Rangoon) where medicine is available at somewhat cheaper prices.
However, some supplies were difficult to obtain and took a lot of time to locate and assemble. This was a drain on funds and volunteers want to arrive with as much as they could & ready to get to work. Through industry contacts and requests I have received invaluable donations and assistance from the a number of companies in Pharmaceutical Industry to lessen the financial costs that the volunteers had to pay in Yangon and ensure the products we obtain are both useful and available.
Significant Contributors:
My local Rotary club, Rotary Balgowlah, contributed US$1000 towards the cost of internal transport and accommodation in Myanmar. They also gave me invaluable contacts and advice to ensure success with gaining contributions and support.
Thai International donated 30Kg of complementary air freight for our supplies to be freighted from Australia to Myanmar as accompanied baggage.
MIMS for supplying drug information software to ensure that doctors have up to date information and references.
Thanks also to Marea O'Donnell, a recently qualified graduate Pharmacist from Sydney University who gave me some valuable reference books to take over and donate to the mission hospital staff.
Pharmacy Software supplier, FRED for the kind donation of a laptop computer to assist the mission recording patient details and facilitate the use of reference software
Stefan Topolski, MD from University of Massachusetts Medical School and a community doctor leads a team that developed Cottage Med a software based patient record package to record patient details diagnosis, doctors notes prescriptions and comments and much more
Listed below are the pharmaceutical companies that I asked for supplies and assistance and willingly donated supplies of drugs and diagnostic aids for the mission. Their endorsement, support and considerable generosity is greatly appreciated!
A big THANK YOU to all our contributors
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The pharmacy was rather busy.
.png "Map of Taungoo Empire 1580")
