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Myanmar, also known as Burma, is one of the largest countries in southeast Asia. It is a country where its culture is a blend of royal and common traditions. Majority of the Myanmar-born community here in Australia have migrated to seek refuge from the political situation in their country. A lot of the migrants that are seeking asylum in Australia come from refugee camps of neighboring countries, commonly Thailand or Malaysia, where some may have stayed for an indefinite period, extending 10 to 20 years (Evason, 2017).

Evason, N. (2017). Myanmar (Burmese) - Core concepts. Cultural Atlas. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/myanmar-burmese-culture/burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts#burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts

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Although the official language spoken in Myanmar is Burmese, there are other indigenous languages used. The local languages used belong to three language families. Burmese and majority of the other languages used belong to the Tibeto-Burma subfamily of Sino-Tibetan languages, meanwhile the Shan language, primarily used by people inhabiting the hills, belongs to the Thai family. Finally, the Mon language, which was spoken by people living in the plains, belonged to the Mon-Khmer subfamily of Austroasiatic languages ("Myanmar," 2024).

Myanmar. (2024, August 26). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar

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Majority of the Burmese population fall under the Bamar ethnic group which is the most dominant ethnic group having around 68 percent of the population belonging to this ethnicity. Although Bamar is the most dominant ethnic group, the other third of the country belong to over 130 groups and sub-groups, each of these having their own dialects and traditions. The different groups are generally geographically distinguished with each of the seven biggest ethnic minorities having an allocated state. These groups are the Chin, Kachin, Karen (or Kayin), Karenni (or Kayah), Mon, Rakhine and Shan people (Evason, 2017).

Evason, N. (2017). Myanmar (Burmese) - Core concepts. Cultural Atlas. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/myanmar-burmese-culture/burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts#burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts

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Golden statue of Buddha Cited on Asia Society https://asiasociety.org/education/origins-buddhism

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In Myanmar, one’s religious identity is associated with their ethnic origin. In the Burmese population, Most identify as Buddhist. making up 87.9 percent of the population. There are also minorities such as Christian, making up 6.2 percent of the population, and Muslims making up 4.3 percent of the population (Evason, 2017). Religion is a source of deep discord in Myanmar. Buddhism, which became highly politicised in the early 20th century, is usually connected to the idea of the Burmese nationality, whereas Christianity was seen as part of the British culture.

Evason, N. (2017). Myanmar (Burmese) - Core concepts. Cultural Atlas. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/myanmar-burmese-culture/burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts#burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts

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Myanmar, due to having different religion and ethnic groups, have different health belief and practices. Theravada Buddhist have various of health beliefs such karma where they believe that aspects of mental illnesses are a result of a person’s past and current life decisions.  They also believe that the four elements, namely fire, water, air and earth control a person’s health and that any imbalances can cause a person to become sick ("Burmese Australians," 2011). For Karens and Karennis, they believe that a person has a certain number of souls called “kla” which is important to retain good health (Evason, 2017).

Burmese Australians. (2011). Queensland Health. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/155835/burmese2011.pdf

Evason, N. (2017). Myanmar (Burmese) - Core concepts. Cultural Atlas. Retrieved August 27, 2024, from https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/myanmar-burmese-culture/burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts#burmese-myanmar-culture-core-concepts

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In my opinion, the most important aspect of the competency standards was competency 1.1 under Domain 1: Clinical experts (Culturally responsive clinical practice: Working with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds: Competency standard framework for clinicians, 2019, p. 12-13). It is stated in the framework that clinicians should respond sensitively and without assumptions to the diversity of individual characteristics and social determinants of health. I think that this is vital since Myanmar has around 130 groups and sub-groups having different traditions, religions and languages.  This means that we should acknowledge any ethnic-related factors that may impact a person’s health so that we could have a full understanding of their health information.

Culturally responsive clinical practice: Working with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds: Competency standard framework for clinicians. (2019). Migrant and Refugee Women’s Health Partnership.

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Many Burmese refugees that arrive in Australia have experience multiple traumatic events such as separation from their families and having uncertainty of their future. To make them feel welcome, social inclusion and non-discrimination is a requirement because refugees often suffer from discrimination in the countries where they have found refuge (UNHCR, n.d.). This means that exclusion can increase the vulnerability of the refugees to diseases and other mental illnesses. To counteract this, refugees need to healthy and active in their communities and access to quality healthcare services which can be achieved with social inclusion and non-discrimination.

UNHCR. (n.d.). Supporting the social inclusion of refugees. https://www.unhcr.org/media/supporting-social-inclusion-refugees

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Burmese refugees in Australia show high rates of diseases including Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, latent tuberculosis, Vitamin D deficiency and strongyloidiasis ("Burmese Australians," 2011). Focusing mainly on H. pylori, risk factors of this common disease include increasing age, family infection status, ethnicity, geographical prevalence and socioeconomic conditions.  In order to manage this disease, current Australian guidelines suggest taking a seven-day course of acid suppression therapy with either a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), combined with amoxicillin (pregnancy category A) and clarithromycin (pregnancy category B3) for adults, while children typically take a longer course of 14 days for the treatment (Schulz et al., n.d.).

Burmese Australians. (2011). Queensland Health. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/155835/burmese2011.pdf

Schulz, T., Kay, M., & Cherian, S. (n.d.). Helicobacter pylori » Australian refugee health. https://refugeehealthguide.org.au/helicobacter-pylori/