미얀마의 보건의료 현실과 ‘국가-사회’ 관계의 동학

Abstract

The civil disobedience movement launched by medical staffs at public hospitals in response to the coup conducted by Myanmar's military in 2021 shows the perception that the political crisis triggered by the coup is more fatal to the safety and health of the people of this country than the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Myanmar's healthcare system has gone backwards over the past 50 years under military rule. Myanmar has established systems and policies aimed at universal health security from a very early age, but the reality has shown a big gap with it. Rather, most people’s right to health has been seriously violated as the military, which reigns over the people as a ‘state within a state’ exclusively monopolizes scarce healthcare resources and utilizes them politically. This situation had undermined public health system and resulted in catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditures accounting for more than 70% of total healthcare spending of this country. Therefore, it can be said that Myanmar's healthcare crisis is fundamentally caused by a political crisis. By examining the implications of the civil disobedience movement and the characteristics and limitations of Myanmar's health care policy, this article emphasizes that the improvement of Myanmar's poor healthcare should start with resetting the multi-layered 'state-society' relations, which has been marked by long conflicts.