Mae Tao Clinic to Relocate
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Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand, will move to a new location because of financial challenges, according to Dr. Cynthia Maung, the founder of the clinic.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Cynthia Maung said, “I’m sure that the new place is not going be perfect at the beginning. We have to take it step by step.”
She said the cost of rent at the current clinic location is 200,000 baht (US $6,680) per month.
She said some international donors have cut the amount of their contribution, adding to the clinic's financial woes. A source close to the clinic said that some donors have reduced their contributions by 20 to 30 percent.
The clinic is supported by about 10 organizations including USAID, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada and Italy.
The strategic focus of many international donors began to change about two years ago when they shifted their first priority to organizations working inside Burma, said observers.
The Mae Tao clinic provides free treatment to Burmese migrants and refugees in Thailand, in addition to many Burmese residents of Karen State who cross the border to receive treatment.
According to Dr. Thiha Maung, a former vice chairman of the clinic, “Many patients are from Karen and Mon State, but there were some patients from upper Burma who need eye treatment. About 400 patients came to the clinic for treatment every day.”
Mae Tao clinic began in 1989. In 2008, after Cyclone Nargis, the clinic sent a medical team to treat cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta.
On Nov. 21, The Irrawaddy received a letter from Dr. Cynthia Maung, the director of Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, in which she pointed out several errors of fact and inaccuracies in the Nov. 17 article, “Mae Tao Clinic to Relocate.”
First, Mae Tao Clinic will not relocate as the headline and the lead of the article suggested. In a telephone interview with The Irrawaddy. Dr. Cynthia said she “would like to” acquire a larger site for the clinic. In her letter, Dr. Cynthia said that a relocation of the clinic is not within the organization's current plans. It was also an inaccuracy to say that the clinic's funding, or a cut in funding, was linked to the supposed relocation.
The article listed donor countries and organizations that support Mae Tao Clinic. Dr. Cynthia has pointed out that Sweden is not such a donor country.
The reporter also referred to Dr. Thitha Maung as a former vice-chairman of the clinic. This, too, was incorrect. Dr. Thitha Maung is in fact the director of Thailand-based National Health and Education Committee's health program .
Finally, The Irrawaddy stated that in 2008, after Cyclone Nargis, the clinic sent a medical team to treat cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy Delta. While members of Mae Tao helped coordinate efforts, they did not send a medical team to the delta, Dr. Cynthia pointed out. (Go to article)
The Irrawaddy apologizes for misrepresenting the comments of Dr. Cynthia and Mae Tao Clinic in this article.
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