Democratic Karen Buddhist Army medics treat a COVID patient at one of their health facilities, in Karen State, Myanmar, on Aug 11, 2021. - AP
JAKARTA (AP): When February's military takeover of Myanmar led to the collapse of the central health care system, independent ethnic organisations that had operated for decades on the country's borders stepped in. They provided basic medical services, treated Covid-19-patients and occasionally even tended to injuries from armed skirmishes.
But a fierce new wave of coronavirus cases, and myriad other challenges - closed borders, shrinking support from international donors, and a crackdown on aid by the military, which has been accused of hoarding medical supplies for its own use - are stretching their abilities to the limit.
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