Burma - Health System

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Burma’s health system is ranked second worst in the world, next to Sierra Leone. The government spends 30-50% of its budget on the military, yet only 2.2% is spent on health.

• An estimated 30% of children under age 5 are moderately to severely underweight due to food insecurity, lowering their immune systems and making them susceptible to even more health problem. Malnutrition is widespread among under-five-year-old children, with about one third of children severely or moderately stunted and underweight.


• About 10% of children die before they reach age five, usually from diarrheal disease. Burma has a high infant mortality rate of 75 per 1000 live births.


• As many as one in 12 women die from pregnancy and related complications


• There is a 1.3% HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, which is the second highest in all of Southeast Asia only after Thailand.


• An estimated 40% of people have drug-resistant or multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and over 700,000 have malaria. Malaria continues to be a national priority disease with more than a half million cases every year. Approximately half of malaria deaths in the South-east Asia region occur in Myanmar.


• More than 25 per cent of the population lacks access to safe drinking water. Arsenic contamination is a major concern.