Covid-19 is ravaging Myanmar — a killer that respects no borders, speaks no one language, and supersedes all political affiliation. Yet, it is being provided the means to decimate the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta that knows a great deal about attacking people, but has shown no interest or capacity to attack and stop this devastating disease. 

The people of Myanmar are suffering from an extreme lack of oxygen, limited testing, and a vaccination program that has ground to a halt by a self-serving military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing. 

Prior to the military’s attempted coup d’état, Myanmar was well positioned to tackle this pandemic. We were one of the earliest countries in our region to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, and had the resources and a plan in place to launch a national vaccination program in April. The junta brought to an abrupt halt this program as it sought to complete its illegal grab for power and the theft of our nation’s future. 

In the process, the junta decimated our health care system. Junta thugs have murdered, beaten and detained our dedicated and courageous health care professionals. Hundreds of doctors and nurses are in hiding, evading outstanding arrest warrants. Hospitals have been attacked or occupied by so-called ‘security forces’. Junta forces have engaged in at least 240 documented attacks on health care personnel and facilities. 

The junta seems to be incapable of knowing what everyone else in Myanmar fully understands — you cannot attack and defeat Covid-19 by attacking doctors, nurses and hospitals.  

Those who are particularly vulnerable are not only those who have underlying health conditions, but also those in IDP camps, or the thousands who have been arbitrarily detained including government officials, opposition leaders, journalists, human rights advocates and political activists, and who are now suffering in overcrowded prisons where the virus can spread with uncontrolled speed and lethality and where there are little to no treatment options.  

Not only are we facing a junta-caused political, economic, and security crises, we, the people of Myanmar, are suffering from an acute public health crisis brought on by a brutal military junta.  

The question then is: What can we do about it?  

First and foremost, we must all work together. In the face of this disaster, the National Unity Government has established the Commission on Covid-19, of which I am a member. We are doing everything in our power to find a solution to this latest crisis the junta has wrought.  

We are in extensive discussions with numerous international actors to try and secure Covid-related aid. We are working hard on obtaining vaccines, personal protective equipment (PPE), and supplies to treat those suffering from Covid-19 symptoms.  

Most critically, we are spending considerable time to try and secure the support of a non-political, independent body to help oversee a Covid-19 response program in Myanmar.  The people of Myanmar have no faith in a junta-run vaccine program.  So it is critical that an independent third party—that the people of Myanmar can trust—be positioned to run this program. 

A successful future vaccine program requires funding and technical support from the international community.  We are telling our international partners that, for the sake of the people of Myanmar, some engagement with the junta—particularly those working on health—will be required. Those with the ear of the junta must convince them to stop attacking our health care system and allow a Covid-19 treatment program, independent of the junta, to immediately begin to serve our people. We are adamant that a nationwide vaccination program prioritizes non-junta delivery mechanisms.  

As we continue working to secure this critical support, we are urging the people of Myanmar to protect themselves, their families and communities by practicing prevention, including social distancing and, to the greatest extent possible, seek whatever testing, clinical care, and vaccinations may become available from trusted sources. 

With all of us working together—and with strong, decisive international support—we will get through this.

H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation & NUG Spokesperson