Healthcare services have been greatly reduced due to a shortage of doctors and medicines in Samee Town in Arakan Army (AA) controlled Paletwa Township in southern Chin State.
In Samee Town, the only healthcare facility available to locals is a cottage hospital, which is currently being operated by two doctors and four nurses who have been assigned to work there by the AA. There is also a shortage of medical equipment at the hospital.
Residents of Samee Town have to rely on medicines shipped in from Kyauktaw Township or imported from India. But currently, the price of medicines in Samee Town is so high most residents cannot afford to buy them.
A resident of Samee Town said: “There are Arakan (Rakhine) doctors assigned by the AA in the town, working with minimal resources at a small cottage hospital. They do what they can to treat patients, but without an X-ray machine or ultrasound, performing surgeries is impossible. Their only tools are a stethoscope and a limited supply of medicine. With no electricity, they are forced to improvise and care for as many people as possible.”
He also explained that some patients had died at the cottage hospital because they could not receive adequate treatment due to a shortage of doctors, medicines and medical equipment.
He said: “The healthcare support at the hospital is inconsistent—available at times, but not always. In the past year eight deaths have occurred due to the failure to provide timely treatment in emergency situations. For critical cases, patients have been referred to the hospital in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, but some have sadly died on the way there. Malaria patients have also lost their lives due to a shortage of blood for transfusions or delays in care. Nevertheless, the cleanliness and upkeep of Samee cottage hospital is well-managed.”
Following its seizure of Paletwa Township on 14 January 2024, the AA set up town administrations in the Paletwa Township towns of Paletwa and Samee.
Most of the inhabitants of Samee Town have fled because of fighting. Only about 1,000 people, most of whom are ethnic Rakhine, remain in the town.
On 14 January 2025 a junta airstrike on Samee Town destroyed the General Administration Office in Ward No. 2 and caused damage to the MPT mobile phone service infrastructure.