OUR WORK IN 2024

Many in Myanmar are without access to the affordable care that they need. The  Access to Health Fund’s role as a critical funder of health services is now more important than ever – and the Fund continues to make adjustments to its activities and approaches, in order to remain responsive to needs on the ground.

The Access to Health Fund is committed to supporting Myanmar’s health system, ensuring activities bridge critical health gaps, and safeguarding vulnerable populations' right to adequate health care, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, gender, age, financial situation or geographic location. The Fund supports inclusive, participatory processes, people-centred approaches, and local health programmes which respect and promote the rights, dignity and safety of Myanmar’s most vulnerable communities.

How the Fund is Continuing to Support Health Care in Myanmar

We support our partners to remain flexible amidst a challenging context so that they can continue delivering lifesaving and essential services, and pivot and adapt activities to meet immediate needs.

Health care over the phone: In difficult times, health counselling provided over the phone can be an important way to ensure access to health information and consultation services. Some of our partners offer hotline counselling for health emergencies, focusing on remote and vulnerable communities. This makes sure that people can speak to health professionals about any health issue or concern, and receive advice on when they should seek in-person care.

 

Support to Gender-Based Violences Services and Skills: Local civil society partners now focus more on GBV cases and support through local networks. This includes awareness-raising and prevention of GBV, as well as supporting GBV referral services. The community-level support also covers emergency health referrals, which strengthen community-level health responses. Partners have also received training in the provision of GBV care via UNFPA.

Working with the Private Sector: With public hospitals having limited capacity, private health care has become the only option in several areas. This, however, can be too expensive for much of Myanmar’s population, and can also be difficult to access for people living in remote locations. The Fund is exploring how to use the existing capacity to continue health services, such as supporting our partners via private or non-government facilities for emergency obstetrics, and other primary health care. The Fund is exploring strategic purchasing with private hospitals and facilities that are providing points of care, cost-sharing mechanisms in assessing emergency services to help the private sector improve its capacity to serve Myanmar’s poorest people. 

Expanding Emergency Referrals: Emergency referrals are one of the key ways that the Access to Health Fund and our partners help people access the emergency care that they need. With limited health services available, the Fund has expanded its referral support to include broader health needs, including those of gender-based violence survivors, and support for referral to private clinics and services where necessary.

Inspiring Health Workers Continue to Save Lives : U Biak*, a 45-year-old integrated community malaria volunteer, comes from a very hard-to-reach village where local people's access to health services for infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis is extremely limited. Despite these challenges, one of Access to Health’s partners managed to organize a basic training for integrated community malaria volunteers in U Biak’s village in order to continue providing essential services through local volunteers.                                                                         
As malaria was prevalent in the village at the time, U Biak eagerly participated in the training. With support from the partner, he continued to provide health support in his village and was able to refer severe cases to the nearest community clinic for timely treatment. “If I did not get a chance to join the training, malaria cases could have been worse in my village. Some might even have died as it was very difficult to get anti-malaria drugs in the local market.” *Name has been changed.                                                                                   

Support for Internally Displaced People: It is estimated that there are more than three million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar and some 18.6 million people, more than a third of the population, now require humanitarian assistance. IDPs face restrictions of movement, difficult living conditions and a lack of basic assistance, such as food, shelter, medicine, health care and other essential items. Some IDP camps experience disruptions in cash distribution, WASH services, food services, aid delivery, and mobile health activities.

The Access to Health Fund will expand the support we provide to health-related emergency needs, including WASH activities, shelter and nutrition for refugees, IDPs and host communities. Ensuring access to primary health care is a priority, and the Fund supports the procurement and distribution of essential medicines, provision of health services through mobile and fixed clinics, and support to other activities which enhance well-being, such as clean water and non-food items.

Expanding Geographic Focus to Match Changing Patterns of Vulnerability: With the health system operating at a limited capacity nationwide, patterns of vulnerability in the country are changing. The Fund continues to prioritize populations in conflict-affected areas in the states but has also supported activities outside these areas due to changes in patterns of vulnerability and displacement.

Continuing the New Private-Sector Funded Project, which aims to improve health services provided by ethnic health organizations in Shan State. In 2021, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited’s Global CSR Program dedicated funds to Access to Health with the vision of reaching essential health services to marginalized and vulnerable populations in conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas and for the health system improvement in Shan State. The project remains committed to sustainably improve the health and well-being of people in Shan by working on three pillars: infrastructure and equipment, people, and health systems strengthening.