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© 2011 Sollom et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited: Sollom R, Richards AK, Parmar P, Mullany LC, Lian SB, et al. (2011) Health and Human Rights in Chin State, Western Burma: A Population-Based Assessment Using Multistaged Household Cluster Sampling. PLoS Med 8(2): e1001007. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001007

Abstract

Background

The Chin State of Burma (also known as Myanmar) is an isolated ethnic minority area with poor health outcomes and reports of food insecurity and human rights violations. We report on a population-based assessment of health and human rights in Chin State. We sought to quantify reported human rights violations in Chin State and associations between these reported violations and health status at the household level.

Methods and Findings

Multistaged household cluster sampling was done. Heads of household were interviewed on demographics, access to health care, health status, food insecurity, forced displacement, forced labor, and other human rights violations during the preceding 12 months. Ratios of the prevalence of household hunger comparing exposed and unexposed to each reported violation were estimated using binomial regression, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were constructed. Multivariate models were done to adjust for possible confounders. Overall, 91.9% of households (95% CI 89.7%-94.1%) reported forced labor in the past 12 months. Forty-three percent of households met FANTA-2 (Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance II project) definitions for moderate to severe household hunger. Common violations reported were food theft, livestock theft or killing, forced displacement, beatings and torture, detentions, disappearances, and religious and ethnic persecution. Self reporting of multiple rights abuses was independently associated with household hunger.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate widespread self-reports of human rights violations. The nature and extent of these violations may warrant investigation by the United Nations or International Criminal Court.

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Details

Title
Health and Human Rights in Chin State, Western Burma: A Population-Based Assessment Using Multistaged Household Cluster Sampling
Author
Sollom, Richard; Richards, Adam K; Parmar, Parveen; Mullany, Luke C; Lian, Salai Bawi; Iacopino, Vincent; Beyrer, Chris
Pages
e1001007
Section
Research Article
Publication year
2011
Publication date
Feb 2011
Publisher
Public Library of Science
ISSN
15491277
e-ISSN
15491676
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1288091900
Copyright
© 2011 Sollom et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited: Sollom R, Richards AK, Parmar P, Mullany LC, Lian SB, et al. (2011) Health and Human Rights in Chin State, Western Burma: A Population-Based Assessment Using Multistaged Household Cluster Sampling. PLoS Med 8(2): e1001007. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001007