With fear of the deadly measles outbreak spreading out to neighbouring villages bordering Nagaland, the International Border Area People’s Welfare Organisation (IBAPWO) has appealed to the Nagaland government, particularly Health and Family Welfare department to deploy additional resources, experts including required medicine and contribution towards humanitarian aid.
It may be noted that the dreaded disease, which reportedly broke out from the remote northwestern Sagaing Region, killed over 40 people, mostly children.
In a press note, IBAPWO general secretary Nokshom Konyak said that the disease has spread to Chen Yinchung village, which shares the border with Chen block in Mon district.
International Border Area People’s Welfare Organisation stated that the doctors and head of the administration posted under seven border blocks– Phomching, Chen, Tobu, Noklak, Thonoknyu, Pongru and Meluri “should be taken into physical alarm”.
IBAPWO lamented that the Naga inhabited areas of Myanmar lack basic amenities, while the affected areas have no resources to get medicines or carry out screenings/testing.
International Border Area People’s Welfare Organisation said it had also alerted authorities to prevent affected people from entering the Indian side for treatment, fearing it would spread out rapidly. People living in the seven blocks have been alerted to take preventive measures and to report to the authorities in case of any symptoms of measles, International Border Area People’s Welfare Organisation said.
The BSF and Assam Rifles under Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Phek have been asked to assist the medical teams in whatever possible way to cross the border and treat patients without any disturbance.
“The government blames communication and transportation (problems), but another problem is the slow response by the local government that has made the situation worse,” Naw Aung Sann, the general secretary of the Council of Naga Affairs, told Frontier.
The areas worst affected by the outbreak are the isolated townships of Lahe and Nanyun, in the Naga Self-Administered Zone adjoining the border with India, one of least inaccessible areas of Myanmar, where poor road conditions are made worse by monsoon weather.
As on August 8, the death toll from the outbreak stood at 41, of whom 21 were females, the Council of Naga Affairs said.