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Recent Updates and Highlights
Strengthening Specialised Paediatric & Neonatal Nursing Care in District and State/Regional Hospitals in Myanmar
The Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS), the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health (RCPCH) and UNICEF hosted a workshop on 12th August in Yangon.
The objectives of the workshop were:
1. To bring together key Myanmar stakeholders with support from RCPCH and the UK Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to develop plans to improve specialised neonatal and paediatric capacity and patient care effectiveness of the Myanmar nursing workforce.
2. To identify current workforce, professional and service delivery challenges and the impact they have on developing specialist nursing in Myanmar.
3. To consider if and how the specialisation of paediatric and neonatal nursing could be developed as a pilot for a wider model of practice.
The nursing directorate from MoHS, RCPCH representatives and key nurses from a variety of regions in Myanmar attended and discussed future plans. Outcomes from this workshop have been shared with the Ministry for implementation.
THET’s Advisor Dorcas Gwata visits Myanmar
Dorcas Gwata is a Global Health Consultant, specialising in global mental health and has a nursing background. In the UK her research focuses on mental health interventions for young people exposed to violence and exploitation, many of whom are from minority groups. This visit reflected the enormous enthusiasm and desire across the THET partnership network to support innovation in health care and develop greater cross-cultural learning, across the global health community as a whole.
Creating a positive view of childbirth
The first Positive Birth Movement group in Myanmar was recently established in Yangon by two women with a keen interest in this field. Faye Callaghan is a midwife and current fellow on the Improving Global Health programme run by Health Education England. Nelie Janssen is a childbirth educator and a pre/postnatal fitness instructor. She has run childbirth preparation workshops and fitness classes in Yangon for three years and was keen to find a way to challenge attitudes around birth after hearing her clients report negative experiences.
Two former nurses from Myanmar, May Kyatno Khin and May Phyo Thu, support the group with local knowledge of the healthcare system and translate at group meetings. In Myanmar many women have little choice around their birth options, or certainly many feel this way and are often not well informed. The group aims to provide women with some basic skills to talk to their healthcare providers about what a 'positive birth' means to them and how they might achieve it.
International Patient Safety Day
17th September
The MoHS celebrated World Patient Safety Day at Kempinski Hotel, Naypyitaw, with the support from UK-Aid, WHO and the Rangoon General Hospital Reinvigoration Charitable Trust (RGHR). His Excellency Minister Dr. Myint Htwe gave an opening speech followed by short speeches from DFID Country Director Dr. Rurik Marsden, WHO country representative Dr. Stephen Josh and the trustee of RGHR Dr. Thinn Thinn Hlaing.
The objectives of this event were:
1. To bring key stakeholders from the hospital, ministry and wider groups of healthcare professionals together to highlight and reinforce the importance of patient safety for people in Myanmar.
2. To increase the awareness of patient safety measures by public and health professionals.
There were approximately 150 attendees including: senior officials from MoHS, hospital management directors from hospitals from different regions, doctors and nurses. Two hospitals (Naypyitaw & Central Women Hospital, Yangon) received the award for best practice in patient safety.
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