Information

Myanmar has an estimated population of 47 million with a GDP per capita of US $2,161 (See Myanmar for additional information).

Although Myanmar has established public health infrastructure, the country has not been able to develop the potential to conduct clinical research to its fullest. This is due primarily to the following issues:

• The lack of a democratic government accountable to the people, and
• The military’s focus on power instead of promoting the interest of the people.

Most clinical research that has been conducted in Myanmar has been through collaborative efforts such that exists with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and UNDP.

The Myanmar Ministry of Health (MOH) also has an established Food and Drug Administration(Est. 1995) which is responsible for registration and licensing of drugs and food, quality control of registered drugs, processed foods, imported and exported food.

Myanmar MOH is divided into the following functioning departments (Refer to the PDF file Myanmar 05_Health_Infrastructure_edited below for detailed information):

• Department of Health Planning
• Department of Health
• Department of Medical Science
• Department of Medical Research [Upper (est. 2001), Central (est. 2003) and Lower (est. 1963) Myanmar]
• Department of Traditional Medicine

Myanmar’s Department of Medical Research oversees the conduct of clinical research and consists of six (6) research centers (Refer to Slide 29 in PDF Myanmar 05_Health_Infrastructure_edited ):

• Socio-Medical Research Center
• Bio-Medical Research Center
• Clinical Research Center
• Diagnostic and Vaccine Research Center
• National Blood Center
• National Poison Control Center

To date, the majority of clinical research has been conducted related to infectious disease and the Department of Medical Research (Lower Myanmar) has also been designated as a WHO collaborating center for malarial research and training.