AFECT
Association for Akha Education
and Culture in Thailand
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Denied Thai citizenship and unrecognised under the Thai government health care system leaves thousands of hill tribes peoples with access to an affordable health care system. This government policy that restricts public health has created an alarming perpetual state of health. For many years AFECT has struggled with this worrying situation and in 2008 decided to create an autonomous health care system based on alternative medicine. We researched how other indigenous communities cope and discovered the DAI Hospital In Yunnan province China.
THE AKA-HANI ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE CENTRE - AHA-MEC
The DAI HOSPITAL in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province is the largest Naturopath Hospital in China. Although partly subsidized by the Chinese government it is autonomous and serves the needs of 56 minority groups in Yunnan Province. Its highly successful health care programme uses herbal medicine, acupuncture and homeopathy as its basis of medicine. With growing international interest in alternative health it is one of the leaders in its field. In association with the Dai Hospital China, AFECT is now building the AKA-HANI Hospital in xxx Chiang Rai Thailand with a starting grant from Rotary International. The Aka-Hani Hospital will have an ongoing exchange and consultation programme with its counterpart in China sharing traditional forest knowledge, medical skills and research. The AKA-HANI hospital will have xxx beds is headed by Dr Tam, a new graduate from AFECT'S Education Programme, (CEAP). It will bring a much needed affordable health care system into Chiang Rai province for its minority hilltribe population, who lack citizenship, a prerequisite for Thailand's subsidized health care system. Background In April 2004 AFECT started to research forest herbal knowledge under its COMMUNITIES & BIODIVERSITY scheme. This was partly to revive the defunct community health care system, but also to research the forest canopy and its unique ecosystem which is just beginning to be understood by scientists. This vastly unexplored resource might hold the answers to cancers or HIV as studies indicate they are rich in critically important components. The Akha and other indigenous groups have a distinct way of life, sustainable forest practices and traditions have been taught and passed on from one generation to the next, and their is a great resource of untapped knowledge.
The centre will run along the same principles as a general hospital serving the local ethnic minority peoples who can not access an affordable much needed health care system. Because of the extreme poverty found in hill tribe communities we are considering a payment system based on credits. Credits will be given in exchange for harvested plants that can be manufactured into our marketed AKA-HANI medicines and oils. Activities 10 beds Akha-Hani medical clinic and diagnosis clinic Akha-Hani herbs and environment study sites Akha-Hani research centre Akha-Hani school programme Akha-Hani medical library (806 plants already researched and listed) Akha-Hani exchange programme Akha-Hani medicine marketed and sold Akha-Hani Healthy Foods Akha- Hani Home style Akha-Hani forest tour programme Akha-Hani Spa Although Rotary International are kindly providing an initial capital grant we are seeking additional funding for the clinic. Stage two of our health care system will be a series of micro clinics which can access the poor and elderly populations in remote areas. These micro clinics will be continuously monitoring villages through our radio network. EXPANSION PLANS We would like to expand the AKA-HANI alternative hospital programme into the ethnic minority communities in Laos. These desperately poor areas are far behind in terms of affordable health. This programme will be managed through The International Mekong Forum where we have already incited practitioners of alternative health and western medicine.
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