 Dr. Htun Nyunt Oo, NAP Program Manager, inaugurates MAM's PrEP clinic in Hlaingtharya. (CPI) On July 31st, 2020, HIV healthcare providers and other key stakeholders gathered at an event in Yangon to inaugurate Myanmar’s first HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) clinics. This marks a major milestone for Myanmar’s strategic response to HIV, and will contribute to the scaling up of HIV prevention efforts.
An Epidemic Within a Pandemic: Safeguarding Myanmar's Newborns From Hepatitis B During COVID-197/27/2020
 Khin Aye and her newborn son who are participating in CPI's Stop Hep B @ Birth Project in South Dagon, Myanmar. Photo: Community Partners International "We have a real opportunity here to push back hepatitis B. With the right approach, we can free a generation of children in Myanmar from this debilitating and deadly virus.” Seven years ago, Khin Aye went for a routine prenatal check-up while pregnant with her first child. The hospital staff conducted a blood test. “When the test came back, they told me I had hepatitis B.”
 An ethnic health worker conducts a check-up of a baby in Kayin State, Myanmar. Photo: Community Partners International For ethnic health providers in Myanmar to persuasively make the case for increased funding to support comprehensive care, they need to provide clear evidence of needs and results. Community Partners International (CPI) and the Karen Ethnic Health Organizations Consortium (KEHOC) are working together in Kayin State and Bago Region to standardize services and staffing and collect and use population data to measure, verify and improve health services under a pilot purchasing model.
A health worker from the Eastern Naga Development Organization travels to remote villages in the Naga SAZ to conduct COVID-19 prevention activities. Photo: Courtesy of the Eastern Naga Development Organization
In Myanmar’s restive and remote Naga Self-Administered Zone (SAZ), there are only two medical doctors to serve the needs of an estimated 130,000 people. In April 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening communities across Myanmar, Community Partners International (CPI) supported local civil society organization the Eastern Naga Development Organization (ENDO) to raise awareness of COVID-19 risks and prevention measures in 108 remote villages in five townships: Lahe, Leshi and Nanyun in the Naga SAZ, and the neighboring townships of Hkamti and Pansaung.
Hla Hla Htwe makes cloth face masks on her sewing machine in Pyapon, Ayeyarwady Region. Photo: Courtesy of Hla Hla Htwe
The front room of Hla Hla Htwe’s home in Pyapon, Ayeyarwady Region, is a hive of activity. Family members are busy cutting fabric, sewing, washing, and ironing on a makeshift production line. They are making cloth face masks to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19. “On a good day, we can produce about 100 masks,” Hla Hla Htwe says. She and her family are part of a Community Partners International (CPI) initiative to help vulnerable families and communities who have lost work due to COVID-19 to generate income through mask making.
"I don’t know what I would do without this opportunity. I was afraid that no one would help me in these hard times." |
AuthorCPI Admin Archives
September 2020
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