The main ingredients of mohinga are rice noodles, garlic, onions or chives, lemongrass, ginger, fish paste, and catfish. This rice noodle soup with rich broth is usually served with fried dough sticks, chickpeas, boiled eggs, and fried fish cakes.

(Mohinga. (2024, June 24). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohinga)

In Myanmar, women’s Longyi is called “Htamein”, usually worn with “Thummy”, a local loose shirt. Men’s Longyi is called “Pahso”, traditionally worn with “Taipon”, a traditional top. But now people prefer to match it with a comfortable shirt.

Longyi can be worn in different ways for various occasions. For example, the style for weddings typically differs from the one used for work.

(Longyi. (2024, February 7). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyi

Admin. (2019, June 21). All there is to Longyi. Ministry of Hotels & Tourism Myanmar. https://tourism.gov.mm/vn/all-there-is-to-longyi/ )

Thingyan begins in the middle of April. During this festival, people of all ages and genders will enjoy the water fights and make each other wet by using a bucket or water gun, which means washing away the misfortune and sin of the previous year.

(The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Information. Thingyan: The festival of goodwill and loving-kindness. https://www.moi.gov.mm/moi:rng/article/3191

Dr Than Lwin Tun. (2024, April 9). The Significance of Myanmar Water Festival. MYANMAR DigitalNews. https://www.mdn.gov.mm/en/significance-myanmar-water-festival )

Tinospora sinensis (Menispermaceae), is called Sin-don-Manwe in Burmese. T. sinensis is a famous medicinal plant that is typically used in Myanmar. Its roots and stems treat ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, and indigestion.

(Kyaw, Y. M., Bi, Y., Oo, T. N., & Yang, X. (2021). Traditional medicinal plants used by the MON people in Myanmar. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 265, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113253)

(Ong, H. G., Ling, S. M., Win, T. T., Kang, D., Lee, J., & Kim, Y. (2018). Ethnobotany of wild medicinal plants used by the Müün ethnic people: A quantitative survey in southern Chin State, Myanmar. Journal of Herbal Medicine, 13, 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2017.09.006)

Having learned the principles of trauma-informed care, I now realise the benefits of trauma-informed care. This knowledge will be important to me in the workplace because it can help me adjust my approach and provide more humanistic healthcare to my patients. Because I have not yet known precisely how to avoid re-victimising patients when addressing their trauma. I will now need to gain a deeper understanding of practising trauma-informed care.

Subsequently, I realised that the migrant and refugee populations treated inappropriately often develop more serious mental issues. Alternatively, this is perhaps related to the stress of resettlement and acculturation they might undertake.

(MIGRANT & REFUGEE WOMEN’S HEALTH PARTNERSHIP. Culturally Responsive Clinical Practice: Working with People from Migrant and Refugee Backgrounds.

Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center. (2022, July 7). What is trauma-informed care? https://www.traumainformedcare.chcs.org/what-is-trauma-informed-care/ )

After ruling out active tuberculosis, it is recommended that all migrants and refugees from Myanmar aged ≤35 years be screened within the first month of arrival in Australia (e.g. TST or IGRA), and conduct tuberculosis screening programs for different age groups of children. To avoid the spread of TB and limit the number of TB cases and deaths.

(World Health Organization (WHO). (2023, February 27). How Myanmar achieved the 2020 milestone of reducing TB disease burden. https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/feature-stories/detail/how-myanmar-achieved-the-2020-milestone-of-reducing-TB-disease-burden

Australian refugee health. (n.d.). Tuberculosis (TB & LTBI). https://refugeehealthguide.org.au/tuberculosis-tb/

WHO SEARO/WHO Myanmar (August 2023). Public Health Situation Analysis (PHSA) - Myanmar, August 2023 Public Health Situation Analysis - PHSA - Myanmar, August 2023 (who.int) )

Myanmar has a low national health status and an intentionally volatile situation, leading the migrants and refugees coming from there to have worse health conditions. The Australian Government’s Humanitarian Program and Special Humanitarian Program can somewhat improve the problem. For example, the Humanitarian Entrant Health Service provides free and holistic health assessment services for all Burmese refugees and humanitarian entrants in West Australia, which can improve their primary health status.

(Social Protection and Human Rights. (2021, October 23). Equality and non-discrimination. https://socialprotection-humanrights.org/framework/principles/equality-and-non-discrimination/

World Health Organization (WHO). (2019, May 30). Social determinants of health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health/building-the-evidence-for-action#tab=tab_1

Australian refugee health. (n.d.). Refugee patients in primary care. https://refugeehealthguide.org.au/refugee-patients-in-primary-care/

WA Health, Government of Western Australia. (n.d.). Humanitarian entrant health service. https://www.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Humanitarian-Entrant-Health-Service )