If you want the latest officially approved data on key populations in Asia and the Pacific then here it is at AIDS Data Hub: http://www.aidsdatahub.org. You can see how Myanmar compares with other countries. It is not doing well in its response to people who inject drugs. Jamie ******************* Female Sex Workers Overview in Slides. […]

Here is a piece on drug policy that includes the views of a user. The discussions about drug policy are ongoing. The summary of the discussions have not yet been posted so we don’t know what has been agreed. It is also unclear how this policy fits with the draft drug law that has not […]

There is heavy spin here by the Myanmar Times author, PSI, and perhaps ADB. Put Myanmar and DALYs into the controls on the left of this site: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/ You will see that the greatest threats to public health in Myanmar are NOT communicable diseases and reproductive health ones. Jamie ***********************A ADB loan targets health infrastructure […]

Here is a new tobacco control scorecard. http://seatca.org/dmdocuments/Smoke-free%20index-Implementation%20of%20FCTC%20Article%208%202016.pdf You can see that Myanmar has a way to go to achieve success in tobacco control. Onwards, Jamie

The estimated number of new HIV infections around the globe has not changed in several years. Almost two million people began to live with the virus last year. And the previous year. And the year before that. It is about time that the World AIDS Day campaign decided to ‘target’ HIV prevention. I like the […]

There is an article on poverty and health in Myanmar in this issue. http://journalofburmesescholarship.org/issues/v1n1/8b-Zaw-Pepper-en.pdf Jamie

The backpack medic programme has been featured in a film that was reviewed in the Lancet last week. The Black Zone. Do any readers know if the film is available online? Jamie ************************ Medical care and social justice in the jungles of Myanmar Timothy Holtz The Lancet 12 November 2016 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32144-4 The past year […]

I still don’t know if the new UNFPA sexuality app contains any material on sexual pleasure, masturbation, or same sex orientation. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mspiral.lovequestionlifeanswer Jamie

It is almost a year since Richard Horton of The Lancet wrote: “The NCD community needs an electric shock to its semi-comatose soul. But who has the courage to deliver it?” http://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)01178-2/fulltext Please join me in shaking people out of complacency on noncommunicable diseases, mental health disorders, and sudden conditions. Jamie

Here is a statement coming out of a meeting on how ‘nonstate actors’ should be involved with NCDs? http://www.who.int/global-coordination-mechanism/dialogues/co-chairs-statement-gcm-ncd-global-dialogue-oct2016-en.pdf?ua=1&utm_content=buffer6486d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer I think it is milquetoast. Too timid. What do you think of it? Jamie

The last TB prevalence survey in 2010 demonstrated a TB disease burden two to three times higher than anticipated. http://www.searo.who.int/myanmar/documents/TBreviewreportbook.pdf Another survey will be conducted next year. What will it show? How has the programme changed? Jamie

Here is a video in which someone from the Union appears to be inviting people to Myanmar to work with them on tuberculosis. Jamie