1. /
  2. About us /
  3. Where we work /
  4. Myanmar
Where we work
0A9A6914 1000X700px

Myanmar

We are proud to have contributed to the work being done by the people of Myanmar to strengthen health systems and the capacity of their health workforce. We support the actions taken by local community and health leaders by working together to deepen understanding of the health challenges faced by the people of Myanmar and co-design solutions that meet their needs. And we remain committed to the goal of better health outcomes for all of Myanmar’s people. 

Our history in Myanmar

Burnet has worked in Myanmar since 2003 after small scale projects in the late 1990s. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis crossed Myanmar’s coastline causing thousands of fatalities, and widespread devastation.

After the cyclone, Burnet took the lead in developing a local resource centre. It has been operating as an independent entity with its national governance body and empowering civil society organisations by strengthening institutional capacity, creating opportunities for collective voice and actions, and influencing policy development and reform by establishing advocacy platforms. 

The health challenges that face Southeast Asia’s largest country are familiar across the region. Like their neighbours, the people of Myanmar are working to control the spread of infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria and COVID-19. And they are looking for ways to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers, babies, children and adolescents.

10690825034 1C6b7a4619 O

Our people

Burnet’s contribution to Myanmar's health sector is managed by a core team of 25 national staff based in Yangon (main office) and Magway.

Our Myanmar country representative is Dr Phone Myint Win.

Key projects

TREAT-HEP: community-based viral hepatitis testing and treatment project in Yangon, Myanmar

TREAT-HEP: community-based viral hepatitis testing and treatment project in Yangon, Myanmar

This project delivers hepatitis C prevention, testing and treatment services and hepatitis B testing and vaccination services.

ACCESS Myanmar: Assessing the feasibility of an integrated HIV cascade of care surveillance system in Myanmar

ACCESS Myanmar: Assessing the feasibility of an integrated HIV cascade of care surveillance system in Myanmar

ACCESS Myanmar will implement and evaluate an electronic health records data linkage system that effectively monitors the progress of patients through HIV testing and treatment episodes of care across a network of partnering community and government services.

Integrated Multi-Sectoral Approach (IMSA) to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in Magway, Myanmar

Integrated Multi-Sectoral Approach (IMSA) to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in Magway, Myanmar

The project works to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health in the Magwey Region, Myanmar.

RAIL: Resilient Adolescents and Integrated Life Skills project, Dawei, Myanmar

RAIL: Resilient Adolescents and Integrated Life Skills project, Dawei, Myanmar

This project models a best-practice approach for improving adolescent health and life skills education through schools in Myanmar.

Community impact 

Historically, the Burnet team collaborated with community and health leaders in Myanmar to deliver projects that helped reduce the negative social and financial impacts on people with HIV and their families; that minimised the health risks to people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men; and that supported better health among mothers and their children. 

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic slowing progress in some of these areas, the Burnet team are investing in resilient and sustainable health solutions delivered by community-based organisations and continue to generate important gains towards health access and equity for the people of Myanmar.

1,600+

participants in research to help adolescent girls be able to manage menstrual hygiene with confidence. The research with school girls in rural Myanmar has informed plans for providing more support for girls in local communities.

1,200+

Community Sector Organisations we're supporting through a local resource centre we established after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008.

200+

people so far from high risk populations tested for Hepatitis C in partnership with local hepatitis community based organisations, with 119 starting hepatitis C treatment and 79 having received a hepatitis B vaccination. The scale up of this resilient and inclusive community-based pilot package of hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment for people who inject drugs will contribute to reaching the national targets for viral hepatitis.

3000+

young people received sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and life skills education through a school-based platform. 

Myanmar Malaria IMG 8144

To achieve sustainable, intersectoral outcomes for young people

1500

boys were educated on menstrual hygiene to reduce stigma.  

500 

parents were invited to participate in training on young people’s SRH and how to have these conversations with their children.

8 

monastic schools were equipped with hygiene facilities and menstrual hygiene products to support girls to stay in school.

8

health care centres were supported to implement changes for more adolescent and youth friendly health services (AYFHS) including AYFHS corners for young people.

8

income generation projects were established to maintain this integrated model of support for young people’s health.

Malaria elimination 

Home to more than 57 million people, Myanmar shares borders with Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh, has a long coastline that skirts the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and supports vast inland areas of forest. 

In years past, the Burnet team contributed mainly to projects run in urban areas, including the capital Yangon, and other major centres such as Mandalay and Magway. Work in rural areas, home to at least a third of the nation’s population, included programs to reduce the spread of malaria.  

Burnet is leading 3 pieces of operational research in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to generate evidence that will contribute to strategies for the eradication of malaria in the region. This work supports the pillars of the World Health Organisation’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030.

On this page