Publication Cover
Global Public Health
An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice
Volume 17, 2022 - Issue 12
624
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Higher risk of COVID-19 infection among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar under the military coup

Pages 3967-3971 | Received 29 Aug 2021, Accepted 03 Jan 2022, Published online: 18 Jan 2022
 

ABSTRACT

Access to healthcare has been difficult for over a thousand internally displaced people (IPDs) living in camps even before the COVID-19 pandemic surge in Myanmar. Amidst the pandemic crisis, the coup d'etat state power on February 1, 2021, and arbitrary detained all elected officials. Subsequently, over a hundred thousand civilians were displaced from their homes due to the intensified conflict between the military, ethnic armed groups, and people's defence force (PDF). The military attacks on IDP camps, deliberately blockings all humanitarian aid to IDPs, including medical packages and food pack supplies more vulnerable to contracting an infection. Many of IDPs suffer from infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Some tested COVID-19 positive due to their precarious living conditions, lack of protective resources supplies and lack of access to healthcare. Urgent international community response is needed to halt the military inhumanity action against the people of Myanmar to curb the pandemic outbreak among the IDPs in Myanmar. Access to primary healthcare services is a fundamental human right. No one should be ignored in vaccination in the fight against the global health pandemic because no one will be safe until everyone is safe.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.