MOCRU Myanmar (MORU network)
In close association with Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) and with a focus on populations at increased risk and usually excluded from service, MOCRU conduct research to identify health problems and evaluate MAM’s prevention and treatment strategies for important local diseases, including malaria, TB, HIV, hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections, rickets, and COVID-19.
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2019 MORU. Photographer: Gerhard Jørén
Established in 2013 and led by Frank Smithuis, MOCRU works closely with MAM, a medical aid organisation with a well-established infrastructure of 1,245 staff, 19 clinics and 2,250 Community Health Workers supervised by 70 mobile medical teams spread across Myanmar.
This relationship gives MOCRU access to a broad range of health interventions implemented at scale, as MAM conducted ~2 million patient consultations in 2023 alone. MOCRU conducts the research to identify the problems, and evaluates MAM’s solutions. This allows us to answer critically important questions around prevention and treatment strategies for locally important diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis (TB), HIV, hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections (STI), rickets, and COVID-19.
Working in Myanmar has never been easy. Approval for even the most risk-free prospective research projects is often very problematic. The situation worsened after the military took power in February 2021 and the violence that ensued. The functioning of the Department of Health and government hospitals was hampered severely due to a nationwide strike (which started in 2021 and was ongoing throughout 2024). Health care has been drawn into the political conflict
The conflict also affected our research plans. Several large studies awaiting Ethics Review Board (ERB) approval after several years of preparation had to be cancelled. Other studies (TruenatTM TB, HIV drug resistance) had to be re-negotiated, or are still pending approval, while some were stopped because of a lack of access (mass screening and treatment for elimination of malaria).
Only studies in MAM patient care projects that were approved before 2021 are going on, such as studying options for new interventions to reduce HIV transmission among key-affected and excluded risk groups (injecting drug users, female sex workers, MSM and transgender women). In addition, we conducted retrospective analyses of interventions addressing major health problems encountered by MAM, focussing on TB, malaria and rickets. The urgent need to identify solutions for major health problems is why we continue operations under these difficult circumstances.