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02/02/2005 Entry: "Doctor's Orders"

LEARNING FROM MYANMAR: Interesting essay on Reason's web site today. Kerry Howley lived in Myanmar last year, a nation which is run by a dictator. However, even a broken clock is right twice a day and Myanmar boasts something that the United States and Canada doesn't: freedom in the health care field.

There are perks to being governed by an insane military dictator. Creating a whole system of repression is a big job for one general, and anarchy bubbles to the surface in the empty spaces totalitarianism has yet to fill. Last year, while living in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, my phones were tapped, my journals were read, my work was censored, and for the first time in my life, I was given the authority to care for my own body.

There is no prescription drug system in Myanmar, but there are plenty of illnesses waiting to befall an effete Western immune system. My expatriate colleagues and I were free to treat our ailments as we saw fit. We staved off food poisoning and bouts of malaria with frequent trips to the local pharmacy, consulting doctors when necessary, but ultimately responsible for our own medical decisions. We formed doctor-patient relationships that were partnerships rather than paternalistic hierarchies, and each of us lived to tell the story.

Obviously Myanmar isn't a model for anyone but interesting to see that the people there are allowed to make their own health care decisions.

Read on.