Myanmar’s Immunization Emergency: “If we can’t find more vaccines, coverage could drop to zero.”7/26/2022
 An ethnic health organization health worker vaccinates a pregnant woman in southeast Myanmar. (CPI) Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show a collapse in routine immunization coverage of children in Myanmar (Burma) between 2020 and 2021. We talk to a representative of a community-based partner organization supported by Community Partners International (CPI) about the situation she is experiencing on the ground in conflict-affected areas of southeast Myanmar, and the potentially devastating impact this could have on vulnerable communities.
Mon National Health Committee health workers prepare insecticide to control mosquitoes as part of malaria prevention efforts in a village in southeast Myanmar. (MNHC/CPI)
Between 2012 and 2020, Myanmar (Burma) made extraordinary gains against malaria. The number of confirmed cases fell by almost 88% and the reported number of deaths fell by 98%. In 2020, only 10 deaths in Myanmar were officially attributed to malaria. This was the result of a coordinated multi-stakeholder prevention, control and elimination strategy supported by sustained local and international investment. But these gains are now under threat due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the February 2021 coup.
 A technician fills a tank with oxygen at the new oxygen plant in Hpa-An, Myanmar. (KEHOC/KDHW/CPI) On January 2, 2022, five days after the first confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant were detected in Myanmar, a new oxygen generation plant supported by Community Partners International and the Access to Health Fund opened at a facility operated by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) in Hpa-An, Kayin (Karen) State.
 Anam Ali, CPI's Country Director in Bangladesh, cuts the ribbon at the opening ceremony for the new health post supported by CPI in Camp 1W of Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Md. Dipu/CPI) Moments after the health post’s doors opened for the very first time on Thursday, December 2, 2021, eight-year-old Omme came in with her father Abul. She was suffering from abdominal pain and fever. The doctor on duty saw Omme immediately and provided care. “Everyone is helpful here,” remarked Abul. “The doctor listened carefully and gave my daughter medicine. I am happy.”
 Construction underway on the new CPI-Green Hill health post in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (CPI) In late August, Community Partners International (CPI) and local partner Green Hill broke ground on a new health post in Camp 1W of Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Scheduled to open by the end of October, the health post will offer free primary health care services to Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities in the surrounding area.
 Tasmin (left) is visited by Monjur, a Community Immunization Volunteer supported by Community Partners International and Green Hill. (CPI) "I didn’t understand what a vaccine was. I just heard that they can leave permanent marks on the skin and cause fever." Tasmin, 24, pregnant mother of two children Tasmin’s perception of vaccines is fairly common among her fellow Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp. With limited access to accurate health information, misunderstandings and false rumors can travel rapidly within the community.
Community Immunity: Rohingya Immunization Volunteers Poised to Support COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout5/4/2021
 Mohammad Taher is a Rohingya Community Immunization Volunteer supported by Community Partners International (CPI) and Green Hill in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. Each day, he visits households in his neighborhood to help pregnant and women and young children get vaccinated against deadly diseases.
 Noor Bahar at her shelter in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (CPI) Noor Bahar’s family was killed during the violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State in 2017. The only survivor, she fled across the border to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where she now lives as a refugee in Kutupalong Refugee Camp. With no family members to help her, she relies on the support of community volunteers in her neighborhood. As an asthma sufferer, she has to take care of her health, especially with the threat of COVID-19.
One evening in March, Noor suffered an acute asthma attack in her shelter. A passerby saw her struggling to breathe and alerted Zainul Mostofa, a Rohingya Community Health Volunteer supported by Community Partners International (CPI).  Ayesha with her newborn baby girl in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (CPI) Ayesha and Jannat are Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sheltering in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. They fled violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State in 2017 with their families, walking for many days to reach the Bangladesh border. Today, they live in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp. Both receive assistance from networks of Rohingya community health and water, sanitation and hygiene volunteers supported by Community Partners International (CPI). Here are their stories.
 (Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock.com) In January, Community Partners International launched a new project in northern Los Angeles (LA) County, California, to provide home-based care to patients recovering from COVID-19, freeing up vital bed space to receive new patients in need of intensive and emergency care. More used to providing health services in Myanmar (Burma)’s conflict zones and Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, this is the organization's first U.S.-based project.
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