Work

SINCE 2013

Myanmar

Our pioneering programme is now independently run by local volunteers

country updates

We are changed by the knowledge of the value added by palliative care and we want to give a holistic and interdisciplinary palliative care approach to our patients to promote their quality of life. We also want to share the precious knowledge and experience to all our healthcare personnel.
Dr Wah Wah Myint Zu
Radiation Oncologist, Yangon General Hospital, Myanmar

Our IMpact

28

Participants

trained in palliative care services

12

Institutions

involved in palliative care services

Part of our training programme in Myanmar in 2015 included bedside teaching at the Yangon General Hospital’s oncology department.

Lien Collab rolled out its very first programme in Myanmar in 2013 when 5 experts—3 doctors and 2 nurses from Singapore and Australia—visited the country to train selected candidates. The programme hosted by the Department of Oncology at Yangon General Hospital, the country’s largest teaching hospital, saw 28 selected participants, including doctors, nurses and medical social workers from 11 hospitals and 1 hospice.

Over a four year period, 11 volunteer faculty visited Myanmar regularly to complete the training programme. Today, the pioneering participants  continue training others in the country voluntarily. Lien Collab still advises the relevant authorities on how to sustain the growth and continue the advancement of accessible palliative care in the country.

A patient (right) with his caregiver wife at Yangon General Hospital.

On the Ground

Key Achievements

  • Palliative care is now part of Myanmar’s undergraduate curriculum for medical and nursing courses.
  • Myanmar’s healthcare systems largely did not provide morphine initially. Today, government factories manufacture oral morphine for hospitals. They are also provided free to patients,
  • Since the successful completion of our Train-the-Trainers programme, local volunteers have taken over the teaching in their own hospitals.
  • We supported the country’s health ministry to host an opioid seminar at Naypyidaw and its planning for palliative care advancement on a national level.

The programme’s country leads are:

Dr Ramaswamy Akhileswaran (Singapore)

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Bringing Relief to Asia Together

Lien Collaborative for Palliative Care (Lien Collab) draws on philanthropy, health institutions, palliative care service providers, individuals and more to strengthen leadership and capacity in bringing pain relief to all.

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