ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By LAWI WENG / SANGKHLABURI | Cases of malaria among Burmese migrants living along the Thai border more than doubled in May, according to a specialist at Dr Cynthia Maung’s Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot.

Hsa K’por, operations manager of the clinic’s malaria department, said the number of malaria patients at the clinic had jumped from a monthly total of less than 600 in the first four months of 2008 to 1,218 in May. He said the number was expected to rise still further this month with the onset of the rainy season.

More than 100 patients are currently being treated at the clinic, which has problems finding space for new arrivals. Three malaria sufferers died at the clinic in May.

A clinic staffer said the high incidence of the disease among Burmese migrants was partly due to their lack of knowledge about conditions in the border area. Migrants from inland Burma often failed to take the necessary precautions, the staffer said.

Increased instances of malaria were also reported from border areas in Kanchanaburi Province, near the Three Pagodas Pass.