Dr. Tom Lee (left) and colleagues in the COVID-19 tent at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California. Photo courtesy of Tom Lee.
Community Partners International's Board Chair Dr. Tom Lee is an Emergency Room Physician working on the front lines of the COVID-19 response in Los Angeles. In this blog post, he reflects on the challenges he has seen in the last few weeks as the U.S. struggles to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak, and shares his concerns about the potential impact of the pandemic on countries with fragile health systems like Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"There is a tendency during times like these that we look inwards – to our families and to ourselves. But we must also continue to look outwards – to our friends, our communities, our country and the world."  Photo: Community Partners International Community Partners International (CPI)'s Board Chair Dr. Tom Lee, Board President Stan Sze and Executive Director Dr. Si Thura share a message of solidarity and support regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
 Schoolchildren are tested for malaria during mass screening by mobile health teams. Photo: Community Partners International Since 2012, Myanmar has made extraordinary gains against malaria. The confirmed number of malaria cases declined by 85% between 2012 and 2018, and the reported number of deaths by 95%. In 2018, only 19 deaths in Myanmar were officially attributed to malaria (1). However, the continued presence of malaria in remote and under-served communities, and the emergence of Myanmar as a hotspot of multidrug resistance, mean that we must guard against complacency. With support from the Access to Health Fund, Community Partners International (CPI) is working closely with community partners and other stakeholders to eliminate pockets of multidrug-resistant malaria through mobile mass screening in 10 prioritized townships in Kayin and Mon States in southeastern Myanmar, as part of an integrated package of health services.
 A mobile X-ray machine enables TB screening in hard-to-reach communities. Photo: Kyi Phyo Htet for Community Partners International Community Partners International (CPI) is supporting efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) in Myanmar by promoting access to TB testing and treatment for conflict-affected, hard-to-reach and underserved populations. A crucial element of success in reaching these populations is to ensure strong cooperation between the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) and the ethnic and community-based organizations that provide the first line of health services in these contexts.
 Hepatitis C screening carried out at the Myanmar Liver Foundation clinic Yangon, Myanmar, under the EQUIP Project. Photo: Community Partners International On October 9, 2019, national and international hepatitis experts and health providers gathered in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, to review the findings of a one-year research project led by Community Partners International (CPI) to assess a simplified antiviral treatment strategy for hepatitis C. Through this project, CPI and partners are seeking to demonstrate that effective treatment of hepatitis C in Myanmar is viable and affordable using new diagnostic and treatment approaches.
|
AuthorCPI Admin Archives
March 2020
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
