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Singapore and Myanmar Healthcare Professionals Team Up

T h e S i n g a p o r e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Foundation (SIF), Yangon General Hospital (YGH) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) launched a threeyear healthcare training project in Yangon on August 31. The aim of the Comprehensive Trauma Rehabilitation Careproject is to improve the overall quality of trauma rehabilitation care in Myanmar to benefit 30,000 patients in greater Yangon over three years. The collaboration, a first between the three partners, is in response to the heavy demand for trauma care from traffic accidents, falls, and work-related injuries which make up a sizeable portion of hospital admissions in Myanmar.

The three-year project will adopt a trainthe-trainer methodology to address the care system, process issues and knowledge in trauma rehabilitation care. Training goals are: to establish a core of well-trained personnel across disciplines for trauma rehabilitation and to develop trauma rehabilitation protocols and service integration. Learning at four levels will involve the clinical trainingof-trainers, management workshops, a study visit to Singapore and professional sharing via two symposiums held in Yangon.

Driving the collaboration is a specialist team of Singapore International Volunteers (SIV), comprising doctors, nurses and allied health professionals from SingHealth. They will work closely with Myanmar healthcare professionals from YGH and other participating hospitals to develop a skills-upgrading programme as well as a comprehensive system for trauma rehabilitation care. SIF’s Executive Director Jean Tan said, “Acute trauma patients are an underserved population and we’re privileged to work alongside our Myanmar friends to improve the delivery of comprehensive trauma rehabilitation to benefit 30,000 patients in greater Yangon. We are grateful to have both SingHealth and Yangon General Hospital on board, collectively working towards ensuring healthier lives for the people of Myanmar while supporting Sustainable Development Goal Three which seeks to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020.” Professor Dr. Khin Myo Hla, Head of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Yangon General Hospital, said, “We are delighted to partner SIF and SingHealth in advancing the quality of trauma care in Myanmar. We know that trauma injuries can be highly debilitating and even potentially fatal. We look forward to fresh perspectives and learnings our medical team can share with our Singaporean counterparts. We also look forward to building stronger professional and personal ties with the Singaporean team over the course of the next three years.”