The junta has been strictly restricting patients from Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships from carrying sufficient medicines back to Arakan (Rakhine) State by air after receiving treatment in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.
Due to chronic and emergency illnesses, many residents are unable to access adequate medical care in Arakan State and are therefore forced to travel to Yangon for treatment.
Patients said they are facing serious hardships, as the coup regime allows them to carry only about one-third of their prescribed medicines on return flights.
“Although I brought three months’ worth of medicine along with my prescription, I was only allowed to take enough for one month. With airfare so expensive, it’s impossible to travel to Yangon every month. If I run out of medicine, I can’t even order more. All I can do is pray that I won’t completely run out,” said a woman from Sittwe.
According to locals, the junta has banned the air transport of medicines to Sittwe since mid-2025, permitting delivery only by sea.
Residents said cargo ships traveling from Yangon to Sittwe operate intermittently and often take months to arrive, leading to medicine shortages and soaring prices in the city.
It is also reported that the junta has banned the transport of medicines from Yangon to Kyaukphyu as well, allowing only limited quantities to be carried personally by patients.
“When I traveled from Yangon to Thandwe, junta authorities confiscated all the medicines I brought when I arrived in Kyaukphyu. They told me I wasn’t allowed to bring any medicine at all. I have diabetes and heart disease, so I brought medicine in advance because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find what I need here. They seized everything, and now I don’t know what to do. I’m not even sure if I can buy medicine in Thandwe. From what I know, it’s extremely difficult to find medicine anywhere in Arakan State,” said a woman from Thandwe Township.
The junta has been blocking routes for transporting medicines and goods to Arakan State since 2023, resulting in widespread shortages.
As a result, locals have had to rely mainly on India for essential medicines and healthcare, while also frequently traveling to mainland Myanmar for medical treatment.
“Since the roads were closed, medicine prices in Kyaukphyu have skyrocketed, and it has become hard to find them anywhere. That’s why I used to send medicines by air to my mother in Kyaukphyu. But over the past two months, the junta has started restricting what we send. Now, only about two-fifths of the amount we used to send is allowed,” said a Kyaukphyu resident currently in Yangon.
The junta is not only restricting the flow of goods and medicines into Arakan State but is also carrying out airstrikes on hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the region, leaving local communities facing severe health challenges.
Residents of Sittwe and Kyaukphyu townships, both of which remain under regime control, have also been barred from leaving the cities, with air travel left as the only permitted means of travel.
Locals reported that passengers must obtain recommendation letters from junta-appointed village, ward, and township administrators to travel by air, and are paying a staggering sum of up to 2 million MMK for one-way flights between Kyaukphyu and Yangon or between Sittwe and Yangon.
