Public health

Local politicians and relief workers in central Shan State have reported two suspected outbreaks of cholera among villagers displaced by the fighting that is focused on two townships, Kye-thi and Mine Shu/Mong Shu. Shan Youth Group activist Ko Sai Oo said he was trying to ...

Nearly 690 million of the world’s 2.3 billion children live in areas most exposed to climate change, facing higher rates of death, poverty and disease from global warming, the UN children’s agency said 24 November. Almost 530 million children live in countries hardest-hit by high floods ...

Customs officials in Battambang on 23 November seized and burned nearly 500 kilograms of expired food imported from Thailand. The intercepted goods included noodles, dried squid, biscuits and candy. Keep reading ...

Government leaders at all levels have been urged to prioritise the implementation of effective measures to solve malnutrition in Laos, according to a leading official. Speaking at the 3rd National Nutrition Committee Meeting and the 1st Nutrition Forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and ...

It’s enough to make you want to spit. Efforts by Yangon city authorities to control the “undisciplined” ejection of crimson betel juice are just not working, officials say. First they tried placing plastic boxes filled with sand at junctions and bus-stops. Their latest scheme is the ...

Delegations from multiple continents are meeting in the capital of South America’s most populous country Brazil for the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, a two-day international symposium aiming to keep traffic safety efforts on the agenda at a time when there are ...

Draft changes to a law outlawing prostitution have been sent back to committee after an upper house MP objected and argued that the law should be amended to protect, rather than punish, sex workers. Yangon Region parliamentarian U Phone Myint Aung urged MPs to look past ...

Within seven days of being treated at Binh Chanh District Hospital’s paediatrics ward, a 13-year boy diagnosed with dengue fever was able to return home, fully recovered, a testament to the hospital’s improved capacity to treat the disease. Dr To Thi Kim Phung, the ward’s head, ...

Two young girls, aged 13 and 8, have died after accidentally detonating a landmine near a small village in central Shan State. The victims died at the bank of the Tein Creek, on the outskirts of Mat Lan village in Laihka Township. According to a third child, ...

Laos’ National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the UXO/Mine Action sector in Laos has set a target to reduce the number of UXO casualties to less than 40 per year and provide assistance to at least 1,500 UXO victims in the period from 2016-2020. The target was set ...