Public health in Burma

Anatomy of a crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID3986161
AuthorsAlfred Oehlers (Auckland University of Technology, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume35
Issue2
Pages195-206
Publication date2005-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00472330580000131
OpenAlexW2064126035
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited11

Burma has been ruled by a military government since 1962. A steady deterioration in public health standards has accompanied such rule, with a particularly marked decline following the crushing of the pro-democracy movement in that country in 1988. This article draws attention to a number of aspects of this decline and the growing precariousness of the overall public health system. As it will be suggested, primary responsibility for this state of decay should be borne by the military regime. Through several policies and practices, the military has severely compromised the functioning of the public health system and perverted it in ways that fulfill its narrow political interests, rather than those of the nation as a whole. The article concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for a reinstatement of democratic norms and institutions in Burma, so that the nation's public health needs may be meaningfully addressed and a looming humanitarian disaster averted

Democracy · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Looming · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public health · Sociology · State (computer science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Health and Conflict Studies · Law · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Public Administration

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