Operating a Medical System in Quarantine: The Impact of Economic Isolation and Political Turmoil on Myanmar's Health

Abstract

This paper examines the production of health in Myanmar (Burma), a country with one of the lowest GDPs per capita in Asia. The planning for & production of health services in Myanmar has been rendered significantly more difficult by the country's recent history which has been characterized by an extended (&, as yet, not fully resolved) civil war, a tense political environment in which extra-governmental actors are severely constrained in speech & movement & a tense relationship between the national government & the international community (manifest in part through the imposition of economic sanctions). The constraints (political & economic) on action in the health arena mean that the roles & the relationships within & between govern-mental, non-governmental & international actors have come to be defined in complex & often counter-intuitive ways. It has also meant that this superficially apolitical arena has evolved into a vibrant space for public expression, action & dialogue which carry implications for health programming & Burmese civil society more broadly.