Myanmar doesn’t look very progressive in all the maps in the WHO HIV progress report released late last year. Downloadable at goo.gl/2UPaQL. You can see the maps in this PowerPoint presentation: http://who.int/entity/hiv/data/Global_Report_2016-web.ppt Jamie

You will not be surprised to hear that I completely disagree with this Comment piece on NCDs and the elderly in Myanmar in the Lancet. I thought at first that it was a parody article in which the word young had been replaced by the word old. Most of the sixty per cent of deaths […]

UNOPS MDG Fund is looking for a Myanmar national for the post of government liaison officer in NayPyiTaw. Details below. https://gprs.unops.org/pages/viewvacancy/VADetails.aspx?id=11561 Jamie

Human resources for health is just one of the constraints in the response to tuberculosis in Myanmar. Task shifting and simple training in tuberculosis treatment could be used to resolve this issue. There are many other issues: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwikzO7dg7_RAhVBq1QKHQcTA0cQFggnMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.searo.who.int%2Fmyanmar%2Fareas%2FTBinMyanmar.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFs4GlvzZpoCP532DLv3RvFy7Rp8w&cad=rja I wonder if these issues were addressed at the ‘annual national evaluation meeting’? And if they were, […]

The traffic police and Road Transport Directorate have a slim grasp of reality if they think that ‘educational lectures’ will decrease road injuries and deaths. There is nothing in the article about injuries and deaths involving buses but they want to educate and inspect bus drivers and conductors. Educate and inspect them for what? Road […]

It appears that counselling by people who are not health care providers has an impact on those with alcohol use disorder. A similar intervention works for depression. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)32566-1/fulltext?utm_source=IHP+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1ecb00fc02-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_14504ce43d-1ecb00fc02-248188161 Has this approach been piloted in Myanmar? Jamie

Increasing taxes on tobacco has two benefits. Fewer young people would start smoking and the income from the tax could go towards paying for universal health coverage. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Myanmar needs to stub out growing tobacco usage Mary Assunta 7 January 2017 Myanmar is experiencing tremendous economic growth. With a young, growing population and a […]

Here is a press release on activities in Mon State. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Myanmar self-help group leading the way for people living with HIV Patrick Duigan and Liam Best International Organization for Migration Thursday, 5 January 2017 03:36 GMT * Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters […]

Sounds like good news. But do I read this correctly? Civil society groups will be involved in more consultations in February and March? Where is a draft of the policy for the public or civil society or both to review? Which civsoc groups will be invited in February and March. What happened to the ‘drug […]

It is amazing to see that PEPFAR has asked for feedback on its technical guidance. A victory for transparency. https://www.pepfar.gov/reports/guidance/265902.htm?utm_campaign=KFF-2017-Daily-GHP-Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=40070700&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8JhbaEjkHqas2fLnBQSAYmMlHIDAChdDsHeYuHD05jpMdpzaJEs88Czq4AWrT9P2xVvem7mIHQqANvfJmpaXuBC2lR1w&_hsmi=40070700 The challenge is that it is 400 pages long and the public is given a little over a week to give feedback. Be quick. Jamie

This is a remarkable paper on noncommunicable diseases NCDs in Myanmar. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-016-3882-3 The researchers looked at classical NCD risk factors in both rural and urban areas of Myanmar. They found that behavioural risk factors like alcohol and tobacco (and even eating few fruits and vegetables) had a tendency to be more common in rural areas. […]

This is the kind of media coverage of HIV issues that makes me despair that Chinese mass media ‘get it’. I don’t know what “across the country” means but there is a clear prioritization of townships in Myanmar. Comprehensive HIV prevention is not available in all of them and services are not uniform. Focusing attention […]