About the Mae Tao Clinic
Burmese residing in refugee camps in Thailand are eligible for health care at clinics inside the camps run by Aide Médicale Internationale. Migrant workers in Thailand, legal or otherwise, have the option of going to Thai public health facilities, but their precarious political status discourages many from seeking medical attention at all. The Mae Tao Clinic was established in 1989 to meet the health needs of Burmese migrants. Dr. Cynthia Maung, a Karen doctor, found the Clinic after she fled Burma along with many of her compatriots in 1988. In recent years, she has gained international recognition and accolades. She received the Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Award in 1999, the Foundation for Human Rights in Asia’s Special Award from Japan in 2001, the Van Heuven Doedhart Award from the Netherlands in 2001, Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in August 2002 (dubbed the “Asian Nobel Peace Prize”) and was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
The clinic is located in Mae Sot, only a few kilometers from the Burmese border. It began as a small operation, with very few supplies and medicines. Over the years, its reputation has grown among the migrant population and inside Burma as a center that provides free, quality medical treatment. In 1989, the clinic provided health care for 1,760 patients; in 2005, the clinic treated 49,000 patients.
Today the Clinic’s services include internal medicine; pediatrics; surgery; reproductive health and obstetrics; a laboratory and blood bank; primary eye care and eye surgery; prosthetics and rehabilitation; HIV/AIDS prevention; malaria management; and TB case finding and referrals. The Clinic also has many health worker training programs. Most of the health workers who graduate from these programs return to their villages inside Burma to provide much-needed health care. Others choose to serve in the refugee camps in Thailand and a small number stay on at the clinic.
Dr. Cynthia has built and sustained an institution of importance and quiet dignity. For the past 17 years, it has been serving the community and saving lives. But it does more than that. While the clinic members are grateful to their Thai hosts, they want to return home. Until that day arrives, the existence of Mae Tao Clinic gives hope to all people who look forward to a more just Burma. For more information about Mae Tao Clinic go to: http://www.maetaoclinic.org/ .
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