Mae Tao Clinic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mae Tao Clinic | |
|---|---|
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| Geography | |
| Location | Mae Sot, Thailand |
| Coordinates | 16°43′08″N 98°32′03″E / 16.7189°N 98.534300°E |
| Organisation | |
| Type | Clinic |
| History | |
| Opened | 1988 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Thailand |
The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), also known as Dr. Cynthia's clinic after its founder Dr. Cynthia Maung, is a community based organisation (CBO), which has been providing primary healthcare service and protection to community from Burma/Myanmar in Western Thailand since 1989. It is based in the border town of Mae Sot, approximately 500 km North West of Bangkok and serves a population of around 150,000 - 250,000 people[1] who shelter in Burma's mountainous border region and, more recently, the growing Burmese migrant workers in Thailand who live in and around Mae Sot. Mae Tao Clinic has average 110,000 consultations annually. Of them 52% reside in Thailand, who are mostly undocumented and displaced due to armed conflicts or/and poverty and other 48% cross the border to seek health services.[2][3]
In 1988, during Burma's ruling military junta's violent suppression of the pro-democracy movement, which culminated in the 1988 Uprising (see also 8888 Uprising), Maung was among many Burmese who fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand where she established a makeshift facility in Mae Sot to treat the injuries sustained by fellow refugees. In that year the clinic treated some 2000 individuals.[4] The clinic has grown to offer a range of health care services, social services, training, and outreach programmes as well as child protection and health education. In 2006 the clinic treated 80,000.[5]
MTC patients include sick and wounded refugees, mostly from Karen State, who have been forced from their villages[6] which are invariably burned to the ground in the military junta's 'scorched earth' policy - part of an overarching doctrine known as the 'Four Cuts'.[7]
In the summer of 2008 when American president George Bush visited Thailand, his wife Laura visited the clinic and spoke of her support for Maung and the clinic's work.[8]
MTC Objectives
- To provide health services for displaced Burmese populations along the Thailand-Burma border.
- To provide initial training of health workers and subsequent corollary medical education.
- To strengthen health information systems along the border.
- To improve health, knowledge, attitudes, and practices within local Burmese populations.
- To promote collaboration among local ethnic health organizations.
- To strengthen networking and partnership with international health professionals and institutions.[1]
Medical Services
- Medical Service OPD (outpatients department)
- Medical Service IPD (inpatients department)
- Surgical Service OPD/IPD
- Reproductive Health OPD/IPD
- Child Health Service OPD/IPD
- Health Education and Counselling
- Laboratory and Blood Bank
- Primary Eye Care and Eye Surgery
- Prosthetics and Rehabilitation
- Malaria Treatment
- HIV/AIDS Prevention (Safe Blood, VCT (Voluntary Confidential Testing and Counselling service))
- Tuberculosis Case Finding and Referrals
- Mae Sot Hospital Referrals
Child Protection Services
Source:[9]
- Children's Development Center (K-12 school) with 892 students (2017 - 2018 academic year)
- Boarding Houses for CDC Students, 214 children
- Dry Food Program for Boarding Houses supporting 1,964 students
Current staffing composition
Source:[10]
- Health Services - 240 staff
- Training & Community Health Outreach - 21 staff
- Operations - 31 staff
- Community Operations - 60 staff
- Burma Based Health Services ( Including : Pa Hite ) - 57 (8 + 49) staff
- Child Protection - 20 staff
- Education - 60 staff
- Total - 489 staff (Oct, 2017)
