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Established in 1998
Who We Are
The Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) was founded to empower local communities to provide primary healthcare services to underserved populations in conflict affected areas of Burma, particularly in areas that international humanitarian organizations cannot reach. The formation of the BPHWT was led by Dr. Cynthia Maung, who has served as chairperson since its inception. Dr. Cynthia, a Karen physician who fled Burma as a result of her involvement with pro-democracy activities, initially established the Mae Tao Clinic in 1989 in Mae Sot, Thailand, for the thousands of students also forced to escape Burma at that time. Over the years, the clinic has developed into a comprehensive healthcare facility offering a wide variety of services, as well as medical and public health education training hundreds of healthcare workers.
Vision
The vision of the Back Pack Health Worker Team is that of a healthy society in which accessible and quality primary health care is provided to all ethnic people in a Federal Union of Burma.
Mission
The Back Pack Health Worker Team is a community-based organization established by health workers from their respective ethnic areas. The BPHWT equips ethnic people, living in rural and remote areas, with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage and address their own health care problems, while working towards the long-term sustainable development of a primary healthcare infrastructure in Burma.
Goal
The goal of the Back Pack Health Worker Team is to promote the emergence of quality and accessible health care for all ethnic people so as to reduce morbidity and mortality, and minimize disability by enabling and empowering communities through primary health care.
Principles
The BPHWT integrates the following principles into its programs in order to ensure adherence to the vision and mission of working towards and sustaining a healthy society in Burma.
- Promote and protect the basic human right to health.
- Provide healthcare services to all, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, culture, political affiliation, age, or gender.
- Focus our resources and programs toward those remote, displaced, and vulnerable populations where there is otherwise no or limited access to primary health care.
- Respect the traditions and culture of those we serve.
- Collaborate with local people, communities, and organizations to provide assistance based upon local needs and establish a sustainable primary healthcare infrastructure.
- Draw, where appropriate, upon locally-available resources for our programs and activities.
- Do not cause harm to the local people and our health workers through data collection and use all collected data for the benefit of the people.
- Foster inter-ethnic unity and trust among our ethnically diverse staff, and also among the communities and organizations served by/partnered with us.
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Contact Us
Email : office.hq@bphwt.org