Here is some rare good news on prevention from UNAIDS. I guess we need some. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2020/april/20200414_new-hiv-infections?utm_campaign=KFF-2020-Daily-GHP-Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86268035&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_4zMF0jg9-A_e8CPgFoMfXK91EFGyC6Is9arK5lnEa9Dv4WGWZJKQbUg5mTnakggPrcaxb4_6c6DLCrjyVU4qIVs7N2w&_hsmi=86268035 The incidence prevalence ratio dropped, though it seems to be leveling off, globally. It would be helpful for each country to see a graph of the trajectory of its own ratio. Jamie

A person living with Covid19 held a meeting with Myanmar Vice President Henry Van Thio in February. Over a month has passed. It is impossible for that person to have infected the Vice President. Testing the Vice President and his family is a waste of precious testing kits. https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-covid-19/myanmar-pastors-face-prosecution-defying-ban-religious-gatherings-amid-covid-19.html Jamie

Here is an LSE-influenced paper on the political economy of the Covid19 coronavirus in Myanmar. I can’t see that any health sector experts were involved in developing it. It continues to propagate the hot climate myth. And most of the public health recommendations are necessary but not sufficient to control the epidemic. BoJo would love […]

Happy Thingyan Jamie

When the history of the Covid19 coronavirus pandemic is written there will be many chapters on facemasks. No other intervention for which there is so much controversy is based on so little evidence. There is little evidence for their use and little evidence for abandoning them. PPE for health workers excluded. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Government’s 6m […]

Have you seen this data table on HIV in Myanmar from the Global Fund? https://www.theglobalfund.org/media/9128/edt_mmr_table_en.xlsx?u=637166001270000000 It is part of the official basis on which Myanmar develops its funding request. There are TB and malaria ones, too. Jamie

The last line in this interview reveals the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports recommended official fourteen day quarantines are followed by a subsequent fourteen day home quarantine. https://irrawaddy.com/in-person/couple-people-recovering-mohs-director-general.html Does WHO recommend *28 days* of quarantine for covid19 coronavirus? At least Dr Tha Tun Kyaw doesn’t try to advance his heat theory. https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-well-equipped-to-battle-covid-19-says-health-ministry-spokesperson Jamie

Foolish statements made during interviews have a way of coming back to haunt interviewees. Dr Tha Tun Kyaw presents misinformation about heat and Covid-19. We shall see if he is accountable for them. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Myanmar well equipped to battle Covid-19, says health ministry spokesperson Hospital capacity is sufficient, and weather and quarantines will limit […]

Well done, Drug Policy Action Group. I hope this sign on letter with almost a hundred organizations on it will produce results. And that you have a back up plan if it doesn’t. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tK7uc6SQf9MWb-bxLgCYt-99nt4MqFLT/view and in the Burmese language https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TAzaqzOb9ueZET88vkffHFarVKU8ZroP/view Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ JOINT CALL FOR ACTION Protecting public health and safety from COVID-19: the urgent […]

This is the first thing Suu Kyi has said in a while that I agree with: “The fewer, the better; the farther, the better.” Well done State Counsellor. https://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/this-years-thingyan-message-from-state-counsellor-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-to-the-people/ Jamie

Excellent work by Myanmar Now on medical waste. Mismanagement of regulation has an impact far beyond the coronavirus crisis. Jamie ++++++++++++++++++ Myanmar’s illegal trade in medical waste poses coronavirus risk Hayman Pyae Myanmar Now Apr 2, 2020 Two garbage disposal workers spent half an hour rummaging through mounds of medical waste with their bare hands […]

Here is great advice from Bo Kyi that addresses mental health when detained or isolated. Myanmar must release prisoners now to prevent an epidemic in its jails and prisons. https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/advice-from-an-ex-political-prisoner-how-to-cope-with-covid-19-isolation.html Jamie