Location: Pyapon Township

Situation:

The military junta should organise general elections in 2010, but there is little hope of real change. Poverty, due to political economic restrictions and an under-investment in health and education,  increases, while the HIV/AIDS epidemic does not diminish.

Two years after Cyclone Nargis, reconstruction is necessary and  important. Doctors of the World (DOW) remains the only international medical organisation present in the affected area.

Activities:

The intervention, planned for a total of 99 villages without any health care facilities, is concentrated on three major areas: training and supervision of community health agents, the reactivation, or creation of, village health committees and their mobilisation to run prevention activities, and finally, health education sessions for villagers. DOW's programme is integrated into the national healthcare policy. Since the cyclone hit the Delta area, DOW has been actively involved in reinforcing the health system, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other health actors (NGOs and UN bodies). As a result of the project, by the end of 2009 99 community health agents were trained and 59 village health committees were created or reactivated.

Outlook:

In 2010, DOW will extend its geographical cover to the south-west of Pyapon township, an area that is particularly difficult to access, and will add 33 villages to its programme. A new financial arrangement should allow for 'mother and child' health programmes.