On June 8, 1991, the Burma Medical Association (BMA) was founded as an independent, non-profit organization by a group of health professionals from Burma under the auspices of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). Doctors, nurses, and other health providers representing multiple ethnic nationalities gathered in Manerplaw, the former headquarters for the Karen National Union (KNU), to establish a forum for promoting health and human rights among displaced people from Burma.
In the 30 years since its inception, BMA has functioned as the leading body for health policy development in Burma. Furthermore, BMA has been building the capacity of healthcare providers in ethnic areas, ensuring the provision of quality health services in regions where access to government healthcare is limited or absent. BMA works closely with the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC), local ethnic political organizations and their health departments, civil society groups, and local, national, and international health organizations.
Since 2005, BMA has provided trainings such as medic, community health worker, maternal and child health, EMOC, and first aid as well as technical assistance, health education outreach, reproductive and child health services, supplies, and stipends for clinic staff based in Burma. In 2021 and 2022, BMA continued to provide a forum for a multi-sector and multi-ethnic approach to building population-based health systems in conflict-affected areas in Burma.
The BMA administrative headquarters based in Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand where training sessions are organized, medicines and supplies are purchased and distributed, and communications with partners and international donors are coordinated. BMA is entirely dependent on contributions from local and international donors.
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