Health Care
The general state of health care in Myanmar 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. Moreover, the health care infrastructure outside of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor. In 2003, Magway Region had less than a quarter of hospital beds than Yangon Region with a slightly greater population.
2002–2003 | # Hospitals | # Beds |
---|---|---|
Specialist hospitals | 0 | 0 |
General hospitals with specialist services | 3 | 550 |
General hospitals | 25 | 750 |
Health clinics | 36 | 576 |
Total | 64 | 1916 |
Read more about this topic: Magway Region
Famous quotes containing the words health and/or care:
“Plants are the young of the world, vessels of health and vigor; but they grope ever upwards towards consciousness; the trees are imperfect men, and seem to bemoan their imprisonment, rooted in the ground.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“Life at the greatest and best is but a froward child, that must be humoured and coaxed a little till it falls asleep, and then all the care is over.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (17281774)