BHM COMMUNITY PARTNER: The backpack healthworker teams

Burma Humanitarian Mission (BHM) works in partnership with the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) — an extraordinary group of medics based in Mae Sot, Thailand — to provide lifesaving healthcare in some of the most dangerous and remote corners of Burma (Myanmar).

Each year, BHM supports 50 mobile backpack medic teams who journey deep into conflict zones, caring for displaced families and ethnic minority communities who have no access to clinics, doctors, or hospitals. These medics are not outsiders — they are recruited from the very villages they serve, bringing compassion, cultural understanding, and a deep commitment to healing their people.

BHM equips these teams with:

• Thousands of essential medical supplies
• Lifesaving medications
• Hands-on training for a new generation of medics
• Food and safe educational support for medics' children in Thailand

Together, we reach over 125,000 people each year — offering not just healthcare, but hope.

Since the military coup in February 2021, the Burma army has escalated a brutal campaign of violence against its own people — targeting ethnic minorities like the Karen, Kachin, Ta’an, Rohingya, Mon, Shan, and Karenni. Every day brings more horror: villages shelled, homes burned, families torn apart by bombings, drone attacks, and brutal raids.

Just a few examples from 2024:

• A 14-year-old girl and her baby brother were killed by mortar fire in Ka Ywe village.
• A drone strike near Ler Doh village killed four civilians and injured others.
• Fighter jets bombed a monastery in Da Li village, killing 14 villagers.
• In Shan State, a marketplace was destroyed in an airstrike, killing 20 and injuring dozens more.

This is not a war zone — these are homes, schools, markets, and sacred spaces. The UN estimates that over 3.1 million people have been internally displaced. Many are hiding in jungles without shelter, food, or access to basic healthcare.

Before BHM’s support, mortality rates in these areas were staggering:

• Infant mortality was 135 deaths per 1,000 births (compared to 5.8 in the U.S.)
• Maternal mortality was 7.2 per 1,000 births (compared to 0.6 in the U.S.)
• 11.6% of the population suffered from malaria, a disease that can kill without fast treatment

Today, thanks to backpack medics, the difference is profound. In just the first half of 2024:

• Over 26,000 patients were treated, including more than 5,000 children under five
• More than 2,000 malaria cases were successfully treated — many of them the deadliest form, Pf malaria
• Entire villages received community health education, empowering them to prevent disease and care for one another
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Every team of 4-5 medics travels to 9-12 villages each month, armed with more than 60,000 doses of medicine and 3,000+ medical supply items. Where no clinics exist, these medics are the frontline of survival.

Each year, BHM sponsors the training of 20-24 new medics along the Thai-Burma border. These young men and women are nominated by their village elders and dedicate 7 months to intensive education in:

• Anatomy & first aid
• Maternal and child health
• Diagnosing illness
• Pharmacology and medicine administration
• Community-based healthcare practices

Graduates complete internships at the renowned Mae Tao Clinic, gaining real-world experience before returning to their villages as lifelines in a time of crisis.