BRC's Health Program
The BRC works closely with a number of organizations on the border, supporting their efforts to provide health-related services and build capacity among Burmese refugees in the health sector. The Mae Tao clinic and the Backpack Health Workers Team are two notable examples.
Mae Tao Clinic
Over the past thirteen years, the Mae Tao Clinic has grown from a small house serving Burmese pro-democracy students fleeing the 1988 crackdown to a busy clinic providing free health care for Burmese migrant workers and people crossing the border from Burma into Thailand. They have a staff of approximately, 5 physicians, 60 health care workers, 25 volunteers and 20 support staff, all of whom work to provide comprehensive health services. These services include inpatient and outpatient medicine, trauma care, blood transfusion, reproductive health, child health and eye care. Each year, the clinic also serves as a centre for training, and a new class of medics are trained to provide services throughout the Thai-Burma border. The clinic works closely with Thai health authorities as well as local and international non-governmental organizations on medical and public health initiatives.
Dr. Cynthia Maung is the director of the Mae Tao Clinic and has received many honours. These include the Johathan Mann Health and Human Rights award, The John Humphries Award (given by Rights & Democracy, formerly the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, in Montreal), the American Women's Medical Association President's Award and the 2002 Magsaysay Award (the 'Nobel Prize' of Asia).
Back Pack Health Worker Team
In 1998, the Back Pack health Worker Team was created by health workers from Karen State, Karenni State and Mon State. The team's principal aim is to conduct a primary health care program within Burma. It strives to co-ordinate health workers along the Thai/Burmese border (and increasingly along the China/Burmese and India/Burmese border) and provide primary health care for the internally displaced people in Burma. The BPHWT has approximately 70 teams which endeavour to provide health care to 130,000 displaced people. There are two or three health workers in each team, which serves an average population of 2,000 people. The team is managed by a leading group of medics, doctors, co-ordinators and administrators.
The activities of the BPHWT include: