Wah Wah Lwin

Primary health care (PHC) in Myanmar has expanded over the past decade, particularly in response to the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Here, I would like to present a case study that examined the readiness, availability, and utilization of PHC services for NCDs in Shan State, Myanmar, from January 2020 to January 2021. The…[Read more]

What Works towards Myanmar’s UHC Scheme
Myanmar has taken some important steps toward UHC. The National Health Plan (2017–2021) laid out a clear policy to expand access to a Basic Essential Package of Health Services and strengthen health system foundations such as workforce, infrastructure, and financing strategies. This plan reflects sta…[Read more]

In Myanmar, there is a large gap between health care in urban and rural areas. People in cities usually have better access to hospitals, trained health workers, medical tests, and quality services. In contrast, rural and conflict-affected areas have limited access to care, shortages of health workers, weak referral systems, and lower quality…[Read more]

Myanmar’s health workforce is under severe strain and has become increasingly labour-intensive due to a serious imbalance between the number of patients and available health workers across all levels of the health system. In many public hospitals, a small number of doctors and nurses are expected to care for large patient volumes, which leads to l…[Read more]

To use EMR smoothly in humanitarian and migrant health settings, health care workers/digital staff need basic digital skills and practical training on the system. Health workers should feel comfortable registering patients, entering data, retrieving records, and protecting confidentiality. Ongoing support and simple, user-friendly interfaces help…[Read more]

From my experience in humanitarian health, using electronic medical records (EMR) in migrant and humanitarian settings offers clear benefits (good points) over paper records, but it also brings important risks (bad points) that must be carefully managed.

Advantages/Good points are

1.Improved Continuity of Care for Mobile and Displaced…[Read more]

Ways to cope with challenges in big health data/EHRs:
1.Minimizing Data Inconsistency: Database Management Systems should include interchange and translation mechanisms to standardize data across hospitals and platforms. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms should be leveraged to extract meaningful diagnoses and investigation results from…[Read more]

Thanks for sharing dialysis policy in Thai, Khun Salin. It’s sad to know that private clinics prioritize on profits rather than patients’ actual needs. Yeah, it’s also happening in my country as well, where policy is weak and ethical issues are neglected.

-I agree with the first recommendation. Corruption in health systems is difficult to define because it is often hidden in everyday practices and described as “gifts,” “tokens of gratitude,” or “facilitation.” Power differences between health care providers and patients make these behaviors easy to accept and hard to challenge, as patients ma…[Read more]

In Myanmar, one of the major public health challenges is tuberculosis (TB), especially in urban slums, migrant communities, and conflict-affected areas. An example of health system improvement is scaling up of community-based TB screening and proper treatment support through national TB program, township health hospitals and basic health staff.…[Read more]

If I were to develop a disaster recovery plan for my organization’s information system, I would include the following procedures. The plan should start with identifying the major risks our system could face, such as power outages, network failures, hardware issues, or natural disasters—and assessing how each one would affect our operations. Aft…[Read more]

Let me share some health challenges related to climate change that the world is currently facing. Climate change is increasingly affecting global health through rising temperatures, extreme weather events, air pollution, food insecurity, and the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue. A joint analysis from WHO and the UN…[Read more]

One change I was directly involved in within my previous organization was the introduction of Integra, a real-time project management system. Before Integra, we relied on fragmented processes that often caused delays and made it difficult to track budgeting, supply chain activities, human resources, and administrative tasks in a streamlined way.…[Read more]

If we implement High Availability technology in the hospital information system (HIS), both patients and the hospital will gain significant, long-lasting benefits.

For patients, HA ensures they receive quality care with less waiting time because the system stays responsive even during busy periods or unexpected technical issues. It also improves…[Read more]

In my previous work, I experienced a situation where the confidentiality of staff information was not properly protected. There were no clear IT protocols in place, so personal details such as personal information, salary data, and other HR records—were kept in shared folders that everyone in the organization could access. This meant that any s…[Read more]

Thanks for an informative and comprehensive presentation about TB surveillance system for Myanmar. Your surveillance system is practical and appropriate for the MM context. Data flow and utilization is also logical. I only have one comment; regarding cross-border surveillance, that you mentioned in your presentation. It would be great if you could…[Read more]

For effective communication, I always value and respect each team member’s opinion by carefully listening to their inputs, thoughts, and perspectives whenever we need to discuss specific tasks.
For example, when I was working as a Regional M&E Officer collaborating closely with country-based M&E officers and managers, I was responsible for s…[Read more]

Hi Phyoe! Thanks for your presentation, it’s good to know the malaria situation in Shan State. It would be good if you could highlight the key stakeholders instead of dividing the data/HIS team, program coordinator, and manager separately, as they could all be grouped under one key stakeholder category, such as implementers. Also, it would be good…[Read more]

Hi Phyoe! Thank you so much for your comments! Regarding data sharing with neighboring countries, based on my knowledge and previous experience, there is an annual meeting or workshop held in Mae Sot, Tak Province, with implementing partners along the borders. It is organized by the Thailand VBDU/MoPH/DDC to share updates on the malaria situation.…[Read more]

Hi New! Thank you so much for your feedback and suggestions. And yes, I agree that visual dashboard and GIS mapping is really helpful to show the hotspots in high endemic areas.