Road deaths per hundred thousand people is a crude metric to measure the impact of road injuries on health. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-chart-10?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/deathontheroads But it is fun to hover over the dots on this interactive graph. Can you find Myanmar? Jamie

It is scary how little information can be squeezed into a story by the official Chinese news agency. And even more frightening to think that there is nothing published by UNAIDS, WHO, or the Ministry of Health so that we can learn more about whatever went on. Transparency is important in a developing democracy. Jamie […]

Here is a view of outreach. Please let me know your thoughts. My concern about outreach is not with the outreach workers themselves. It is with their managers. The managers have outreach workers meet the same people over and over. They don’t reach enough people who have never been reached before. And the same people […]

Empathy lies at the heart of journalism. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Myanmar journalist wins international award Nandar Aung Myanmar Times Wednesday, 03 February 2016 He nearly looked the other way. But Ko Htet Khaung Linn had just become father to a baby girl. And when he saw the teenage prostitute standing by the side of the road, […]

In normal times I would ignore this piece on Zika which at present offers little threat to Myanmar people. But one phrase in this paragraph caught my eye. “According to a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, officials met yesterday to discuss Zika virus control and prevention policies. “At the meeting, the health minister […]

The health burden of alcohol to Myanmar is not just alcoholism. Alcohol plays a role in road injuries, violent death, liver disease, heart disease, TB, falls, and even breast cancer. Prevention of alcohol use disorder is best accomplished by delaying beginning drinking and decreasing drinking in the entire population. Does the NLD have a policy? […]

There was an article Reforming the Sex Trade in Myanmar featured in [him] 2469 and at http://hivinfo4mm.org/reforming-the-sex-trade-article/. It has been pointed out that the sex worker organisation Sex Workers in Myanmar (SWIM) actively advocated with politicians on this issue. They made a presentation at Naypyitaw. It is important that we recognise the contributions made by […]

Here is a feature on MPG from Asia Catalyst. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Partner Spotlight: Myanmar Positive Group Posted on January 27, 2016 by Asia Catalyst Myanmar Positive Group (MPG) was first established in March 2005 as the GIPA Initiative Group by 9 People Living with HIV (PLHIV), with support from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and UNDP. […]

There is a clear, accurate, and readable digest of HIV and the law in Southeast Asia that was published last year. Read the Myanmar part. aidsdatahub.org/hiv-and-law-south-east-asia-undp-2015 And a direct download link http://aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/publication/HIV_and_the_law_in_south_east_asia_2015.pdf While on the subject of the law, the first democratically elected parliament in a half century sat in Myanmar today. A couple of […]