A child in three is malnourished in Myanmar

Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A child in three in the former Burma suffers from malnutrition, this according to the United Nations World Food Programme's executive director James Morris.

"One-third of children in Myanmar are chronically malnourished, 8 per cent are acutely malnourished," Mr Morris said after visiting the country last August.

Bureaucracy and other barriers are hindering aid distribution in the military-ruled country, the UN official said.

The country also suffers from a high rate of school dropout and as many as 400,000 people are infected with HIV/Aids. Its population is estimated at 54 million.

"This is absolutely tragic, serious and unacceptable . . . and it should concern leaders of this country greatly that their future is at risk," he said. "The humanitarian price that the individual person pays for the lack of nutrition and education is enormous""

Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, is one of Asia's poorest and most tightly controlled countries.

The ruling junta came to power in 1988, after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. It called elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when the pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD) won easily.

The ruling military elite faces day-to-day realities that are very different from those confronting the rest of the population.

"Power motivates the generals above all else," says Win Min, an independent Myanmese analyst based in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. With "power, they can do and get whatever they want - money, jewellery and cars." The country's top military, General Than Shwe, lives like a king, in luxury—by contrast, those who are powerless are seen as worthless.

According to Morris, Myanmar has a food surplus, but its complicated bureaucracy has made it hard to move rice around the country, particularly in the western areas. The junta needs to allow the free movement of food and people, and the development of infrastructure for production, Mr Morris said.

During his visit, he went to Myanmar's northern ethnic Wa territory, which is controlled by drug producing guerrillas, to inspect a campaign to wean farmers off growing opium poppies.

He also discussed international aid to Myanmar with senior members of the NLD, whose leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest since May 2003.

Except for some humanitarian assistance, the NLD opposes foreign aid to Myanmar, claiming it helps sustain the government.

• myanmar
• burma
• malnutrition
• health
• care
• children
• minors
• dictatorship
• military
• regime
• development
• poverty