Residents of Pang Saung, a border town with India in the Naga region of Sagaing, are struggling to access healthcare after the public hospital in the area was closed, according to local residents.
The public hospital in Pang Saung, Nangyun Township, in the Naga Self-administered Zone bordering India, has been closed due to a risk of collapse, making it difficult for residents to access medical care.
A local resident said: “The hospital hasn’t collapsed yet. It has cracks and looks like it’s about to collapse, so it’s not being used. The cracks have been there for a long time and are gradually spreading from one area to another. We don’t know if it wasn’t built properly. It’s now completely unusable because it’s in danger of collapsing.
The hospital, which was completed in 2017, was classified as a dangerous building by engineers in January 2023, according to a source close to the Pang Saung health team.
“No one is allowed to enter it. The engineers have classified it as a dangerous building. The staff have been asking [for repairs] since the beginning, but there has been no response. That’s why we want the public to make requests. To move the hospital to another location, they called community representatives, held meetings and then called engineers,” the source said.
In the meantime, Pang Saung Public Hospital is closed and medical services are being provided at the old hospital, according to local residents.
However, as the old hospital is not spacious enough, mainly only maternity patients are treated there, residents said.
A source close to the Pang Saung Health Team said, “It’s not very convenient at the old hospital. The space is very small and they don’t accept many patients. They mainly treat maternity cases. If someone is very sick, they’re sent to the Indian side. Some are sent to Nangyun, and pregnant women who need a C-section give birth in India.”
Locals say there is also a shortage of medicine after Pang Saung Public Hospital was classified as a dangerous building and closed.
One resident said: “There isn’t enough medicine. There are no more medicines arriving. Not only medicines, but also products from Myanmar, such as food and fish paste, have stopped arriving. This is because the road is damaged. There is no medicine at the hospital. They say they don’t even have butterfly needles anymore. They give what is available in the hospital. The rest you have to buy outside. The hospital prescribes the medicines, but now you can’t find them outside either.”
Locals report that there are shortages of medicines, intravenous needles (butterfly needles) and even food due to transportation difficulties in the town.
The currently closed Pang Saung Public Hospital is a 16-bed hospital and has no doctors, according to locals.
Sources close to the Pang Saung health team say the hospital has only five staff: two midwives, two senior nurses and a male health worker.
Sent by NMG.