Who We Are

Due to the ongoing conflicts and political instability, people in conflict areas, particularly ethnic populations, experience fragmented governance and severely disrupted healthcare systems. In these regions, adequate health services are often inaccessible and unavailable. To fill these gaps, Ethnic Health Organizations (EHOs) have emerged over the past decade, providing essential health services.

Initially, EHO relied on volunteer health workers who were trained to offer basic necessary health services. With international and domestic support, EHOs have strengthened and developed their Healthcare systems, infrastructure, range of health services, human resources, and other resources. Despite this progress, there are still gaps in meeting the health workforce and skill requirements. Previously, health workforce production and courses were dependent on project needs, budget availability, and access to training.

The Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) is an Ethnic Health Organization (EHO) serving the health and welfare needs of the ethnic population, majority Karen, in Myanmar (Burma).Kawthoolei Institute of Medical Sciences is under the medical education division of KDHW.