Most internally displaced people (IDPs) at Taung Min IDP camp in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township are suffering from a rash-inducing skin disease.

A majority of adults at the IDP camp, where more than 500 people are sheltering, have developed a skin rash and require medical treatment, said U Shwe Baw Sein, chair of the Rakhine Ethnics Congress.  

“They feel itchy all over their body and red dots appear on the skin. If they take medicine, it is healed. Almost all IDPs are facing this skin disease,” he said.

U Shwe Baw Sein said the health department needs to provide medical treatment to those affected to prevent the disease from spreading to other areas.  

U Maung Kyaw Khaing, manager of the IDP camp, said healthcare personnel from Kansauk clinic visit the IDP camp once a month to provide healthcare services.

“If the medicine given by the health department is not sufficient, we have to buy medicine with our own money,” he said. “On behalf of the IDPs, I want to ask the health department to provide healthcare service two times a month.”

The manager said that some IDPs are also suffering from joint pain, diarrhoea, and measles.

Dr. Than Tun Oo, superintendent of Kyauktaw Township Hospital, said medical treatment for the skin disease is provided through the Kansauk village clinic two times a week.

“It is a normal skin disease. I think it happens due to a contaminated environment and weak hygiene,” he said.

At least 10 children from Kansauk and Wartaung IDP camps in Kyauktaw Township suffered from a skin disease in June.

Photo: Children from Kansauk IDP camp in Kyauktaw Township suffered from a skin disease in June.(Photo - REC)