HIV/AIDS in Burma
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HIV/AIDS in Burma (or Myanmar), recognised as a disease of concern by the Ministry of Health, is most prevalent among sex workers and intravenous drug users. In 2005, the estimated adult HIV prevalence rate in Burma was 1.3% (200,000 - 570,000 people), according to UNAIDS, and early indicators show that the epidemic may be waning in the country, although the epidemic continues to expand.[1][2][3]
However, the National AIDS Programme Burma found that 32% of sex workers and 43% of intravenous drug users in Burma have HIV.[3] The national government, in 2005, spent USD$137,120 (K150,831,600) on HIV, while international donors (the governments of Norway, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Sweden) donated USD$27,711,813 towards HIV programmes in Burma.[4] Burma (ranked 51 out of 166 countries) has one of Asia's highest adult HIV prevalence rates, following Cambodia and Thailand. An estimated 20,000 (range of 11,000 to 35,000) die from HIV/AIDS annually.[5]
In geographic terms, the lowest rates of HIV were in the West (Rakhine State and Chin State), while intermediate rates were in the central region (Mandalay Division, Magwe Division, Sagaing Division, Bago Division), and the highest infection rates were in the North (Kachin State), East (Shan State, Kayin State), and South (Mon State, Tanintharyi Division).[6][5]
Four different strains of HIV are believed to have originated from Burma, along heroin trafficking routes in northern, eastern and western Burma.[7]
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[edit] Government action
The Ministry of Health began surveying for HIV/AIDS in Burma in 1985.[8] The first HIV case in Burma was reported in 1988, and the first AIDS patient in Burma was reported in 1991.[8] Surveillance for HIV began the following year, and a prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme subsequently began in 2000. In 2005, antiretroviral therapy was introduced to the public sector, although only 3% of HIV/AIDS patients currently receive such treatment.[8][2] Currently, AIDS is one of the priority diseases in the National Health Plan. On 18 August 2005, the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria terminated its USD$98,400,000 grant (USD$19,200,000 towards HIV/AIDS) in Burma after the national government imposed restrictions on travel of its staff, which contradicted earlier written agreements.[9]
[edit] Issues
According to the report named "Preventable Fate", published by Doctors without Borders (also known as MSF), 25,000 Burmese AIDS patients died in 2007, deaths that could largely have been prevented by Anti Retorviral Therapy drugs and proper treatment. There was simply not enough money coming in from the government or from outside donors, and people are too poor to afford the treatment themselves. [10]
MSF had to restrict the number of new cases it could treat in Burma, in 2008.
Pushed to its limit by the lack of treatment on offer by other care providers, MSF has recently been forced to make the painful decision to drastically reduce the number of new patients it can treat.
By 2008 MSF itself had become the major health provider of antiretroviral Therapy (ART) drugs and treatment in Burma, not the government or any public or private medical institution. It gave antiretroviral Therapy, essential for surviving AIDS, to about 11,000 people, while over 70,000 people need the treatment. [11] However, less than 20% of HIV/AIDS patients receive the treatment necessary.[12]
Burma's government spends the least percentage of its GDP on health care of any country in the world, and international donor organizations give less to Burma, per capita, than any other country except India. [13]
Interruptions in supply and delivery of ART lead to drug resistance and could lead to new strains of HIV.
The criminal nature of sex work in Burma, as it is prohibited by the Suppression of Prostitution Act in 1949, also contributes to the ineffectiveness of reaching out to sex workers in Burma with regard to HIV/AIDS awareness and condom usage.[14] In Yangon, there are over 100 brothels and up to 10,000 sex workers, mostly of the Bamar ethnic group, with between 70 to 90% having a history of sexually transmitted infections and less than 25% having been tested for HIV.[14] An anecdotal study found that nearly half of sex workers in Yangon have HIV/AIDS.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "At a glance: Myanmar - statistics" (HTML). UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/myanmar_statistics.html#25. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ a b "A scaled-up response to AIDS in Asia and the Pacific" (PDF). UNAIDS. 2005-07-01. http://data.unaids.org/UNA-docs/REPORT_ICAAP_01July05_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ a b "Asia" (PDF). UNAIDS. December 2006. http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/05-Asia_2006_EpiUpdate_eng.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Fund for HIV/AIDS in Myanmar - Annual Progress Report" (PDF). UNAIDS. 2005-04-01. http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2006/fham_annual_progress_report_2005_pp_v281106.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ a b "Myanmar: Epidemiological Fact Sheets" (PDF). UNAIDS. 2004. http://data.unaids.org/Publications/Fact-Sheets01/Myanmar_EN.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ "Assessing the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Burma." (HTML). National Center for Biotechnial Information. 2007-08-18. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12626892&dopt=Abstract. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ Garrett, Laurie (2005) [http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/HIV_National_Security.pdf HIV and National Security: Where are the Links?] . Council of Foreign Relations. (Report).
- ^ a b c "HIV/AIDS" (PDF). Ministry of Health, Burma. http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/HIV%20AIDS.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- ^ "Termination of Grants to Burma" (PDF). The Global Fund. 2007-08-18. http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/media_center/press/pr_050819_factsheet.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ http://www.msf.org/source/countries/asia/myanmar/2008/PreventableFate/PreventableFatereport.pdf
- ^ http://www.msf.org/source/countries/asia/myanmar/2008/PreventableFate/PreventableFatereport.pdf
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/world/asia/01iht-myanmar.html?_r=1&ref=asia
- ^ http://www.msf.org/source/countries/asia/myanmar/2008/PreventableFate/PreventableFatereport.pdf
- ^ a b c Talikowski, Luke; Sue Gillieatt (2005). "http://www.acewh.dal.ca/pdf/GBA%20Scenarios/Female_sex_work_in_Yangon_%20Myanmar.pdf". Sexual Health 2: 193-202. http://www.acewh.dal.ca/pdf/GBA%20Scenarios/Female_sex_work_in_Yangon_%20Myanmar.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
[edit] External links
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