RAKHINE STATE- In Ponakyun Township, Arakanese people and war refugees are suffering more than 200 cases of skin diseases due to poor environmental conditions and impure water, according to members of the Linyaungchi Foundation.
Although only one to two people suffer skin infection during the rainy season (in June), many people, both children and adults are infected (in increasing case numbers), stated an official from the Linyaungchi Foundation.
“The spread of skin diseases without relief is due to living in crowded refugee camps, and unable to receive proper treatment,” said a refugee woman.
The people currently suffering from the disease are the evacuees who took shelter in villages along the Yangon-Sittwe Highway, near Ponakyun Town, living in tents alongside the road. They are residents of Ponakyun town, stated the Linyaungchi Foundation.
Apart from skin disease, the war refugees (locals of Ponakyun town) suffered from diarrhea and other diseases (like seasonal flu). The war refugees say that the incidence of the disease is increasing due to financial problems in buying medicine and the fact that medicine is scarce and expensive.
