Malaria in Laos, how did it happen to the Akha?
Trip Start
Aug 05, 1991
1
2
Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
Maung Sing,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, December 22, 2005
How did this happen?
Well the UNODC (drugs office) and the US GOV. decided that Laos shouldn't grow any opium. So before there was any replacement for this economy, the opium was destroyed, the people were criminalized and many villages were moved from altitudes in the mountains where there is no malaria, away from "opium soil" to areas along roads that were full of malaria. The Akha died and are still dying. The disease effects babies worst of all and shortens their lives if not killing them outright with severe fevers.
GTZ is a large German NGO in the north. They state in their discussions and materials that the Akha don't want mosquito nets because it is against their religion. We could not find any Akha in their working area who could confirm this, but this is what foreigners are being taught. This complicates a disaster ongoing. We distributed and will continue to distribute mosquito nets to the Akha in this region with our limited budget.
US Govt. Drug War funding has brought to an end the lives of many of the Akha in Thailand and Laos. Some people feel that this is morally acceptable. As long as it doesn't effect them or the ones they love.
For more information and data on reports regarding the situation in Laos please visit www.akha.org
We think that many of the policies in Laos were imposed by foreign ngo's and governments in exchange for aid, and we feel the blame for the humanitarian disasters in Laos should go to those people rather than the Lao govt. American bombs in Laos and the Drug War against the Akha are just two examples.
