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Myanmar medics resist military coup

BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n368 (Published 09 February 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:n368
  1. Alison Shepherd
  1. The BMJ

Medical staff at Yangon General Hospital join the nationwide protest against the military coup in Myanmar. Making the three finger salute and wearing the red ribbons that symbolise resistance, the staff echoed calls to shut hospitals across the country as a gesture of defiance.

On 1 February Myanmar’s military arrested the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, and declared a year long state of emergency after losing the election in November and claiming the vote was fraudulent.

Two days later staff at 70 hospitals and clinics in 30 towns went on strike. In a statement the organisers of the medical resistance said, “We refuse to obey any order from the illegitimate military regime who demonstrated they do not have any regards for our poor patients.”