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Background

Dr. Thet Htwe is a family physician from Myanmar (Burma) and a leading proponent of education in reproductive and sexual health. She joined ������Ƶ in 2023 as a visiting assistant professor at Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. 

Since 2015, her primary focus has been the nonprofit organization she established to offer inclusive sexual health education and programs to all community members in local areas across Myanmar. The grassroots initiatives, operating under the "from home to nation" concept, have been complemented by efforts to engage business and government figures. It is hoped that their educational experiences will influence policy-making, particularly in relation to promoting gender equality.

Dr. Htwe focuses on healthcare and integrates aspects of medical and social sciences that directly impact people’s lives. This includes community development, social justice and women’s rights. Dr. Htwe's organization offers informal classes for all community members and collaborates with teachers to establish safe, positive and nonjudgmental learning environments in schools and universities. The organization also initiates public awareness campaigns and workshops to encourage the general public, business leaders and nonprofit groups to combat sexual harassment, sexual violence and sexual exploitation.

Dr. Htwe's work also emphasizes using digital and social media to debunk widespread myths in Myanmar regarding sexual and reproductive health, with the intertwined goals of promoting healthy behavioral changes and reducing the spread of infectious diseases. In a corollary to that mission, she was one of the organizers of the response in Yangon (Myanmar’s largest city) to the COVID-19 pandemic and a trainer in the national public health COVID-19 program. She has also been active in the interfaith peace-building movement in Myanmar in collaboration with religious, civil-society and youth organizations.

She is a former executive member of the General Practitioners’ Society in Myanmar and a life member of the Myanmar Medical Association.

In 2018, Dr. Htwe received an award for outstanding service to society from the Social Alliances, a group of nonprofit organizations in Myanmar. In 2019, she was chosen as one of 20 transformative women leaders in Myanmar society by a national organization of local community groups working for gender equality. In 2022, she was honored as one of three finalists for the Mary Chirwa Award for Courageous Leadership, which is presented to grassroots organizers from around the world by the Mary Chirwa Award Foundation in conjunction with the Nudge Academy Global Impact Challenge in The Hague, Netherlands.

Htwe translated and published the Burmese version of “Status of Women in Islam, 4th edition” by Ahmed Abdul Magid Hammoud. She also contributed to the gender and religion textbook of the Gender Studies Center, Myanmar Institute of Theology, where she presented her qualitative research findings on “Gender Concern in Myanmar Muslim Community.”

Education

• Faculty fellowship in family medicine, Myanmar Academy of Family Physicians and Boston University Global Health Collaborative
• Postgraduate degree in family medicine, University of Medicine 2, Yangon
• Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MD), University of Medicine 2, Yangon

Research Interests

• Community health
• Cultural sensitivity in the healthcare system
• Violence against women
  
• Conflict-related sexual violence
  

Clinical Interests

• Family health
• Women’s health
• Youth-friendly healthcare

Teaching Interests

• Community-based approaches to health education
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Curriculum development for health educators

More Info

Professional activities

• Community health organizer and national public health responder (COVID-19 pandemic)
• Diploma in legal studies, Myanmar Institute of Legal Education
• Consultant and organizer, Break the Silence Campaign for preventing and combating sexual violence in Myanmar
  
• Cofounder, Az-Zahra Women’s Group (Myanmar)