Internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in the forests of southern Kale (Kalay) Township, Sagaing Region, are experiencing a surge in skin diseases and seasonal flu.

Over 30,000 IDPs are now sheltering in the forests of southern Kale Township. They have fled from at least 30 villages in southern Kale Township that the junta has burned down since the 2021 coup, according to aid workers assisting them who say the IDPs are struggling to survive in makeshift shelters.

Around 100 of those IDPs are suffering from skin diseases and seasonal flu and having difficulty accessing any sort of healthcare.

Medicine shortages and poor transportation are making it difficult for the IDPs sheltering in the forest to access proper healthcare, according to an official from the People’s Healthcare Network (Kale), a group providing medical support to the IDPs.

He said: “Skin diseases and seasonal flu are really common now in the IDP camps in the forests, and we’re also seeing cases in some villages. Southern parts of Kale Township are difficult to travel through, and there's also a serious shortage of medicine. So far, seasonal flu infections have not yet reached a level where they are causing loss of life.”