Myanmar health system strained by cyclone

"He coughed and cried all night," she explained hysterically to a volunteer doctor. "Is he going to die?"

Myanmar's ragged health system has been stretched to the limit after the cyclone two weeks ago left up to 2.5 million people homeless, exposed to pounding rains and potential disease.

Until Saturday, the military regime had insisted it was capable of handling the crisis alone, but Thai and Indian doctors have now been given permission to help.

For some, like Saw Htin's little one, it may not matter. The local doctor said it didn't look good, most likely pneumonia brought on from living in what's left of their leaky thatch hut ripped apart by the cyclone.

The young mother said she was forced to choose between food or roofing, and now worries the antibiotics she received have come too late.

"Normally we scold patients if they don't change clothes for children when it's wet, but they don't have a choice," said the doctor, who declined to give her name, fearing government reprisal. "Even if they change, it's wet again."

As word spread that three local female doctors had set up a makeshift clinic at a Buddhist monastery, about 300 people emerged from tattered shacks for treatment over two hours.

They said the cold rains had been relentless and complained of everything from fever to diarrhea on the outskirts of the country's largest city of Yangon, part of the worst-hit areas that have been off-limits to foreign aid workers.

Pointing to a mountain of garbage piled up across the road, the doctor said proper sanitation remains key -especially prior to the monsoon season.