Health Care
The general state of health care in Burma is poor. The military government spends anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on health care, consistently ranking among the lowest in the world. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.
In general, the health care infrastructure outside of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor but is especially worse in conflict ridden areas like Kayin State. The public health care system in the state is almost non-existent. The entire Kayin State has fewer hospital beds than the Yangon General Hospital. The following is a summary of the public health care system in the state.
| 2002–2003 | # Hospitals | # Beds |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist hospitals | 0 | 0 |
| General hospitals with specialist services | 1 | 200 |
| General hospitals | 7 | 275 |
| Health clinics | 17 | 272 |
| Total | 25 | 747 |
Read more about this topic: Kayin State
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