Below is a piece from Monsters and Critics based on the article that was carried by the DPA news service after World AIDS Day. The [him] moderator applauds the courage of Ma Aye Aye Khing in coming out about her family's serostatus and hope that other people who go to Daw Phyu Phyu's clinic will also do so.
[him] moderator
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HIV patients mark AIDS day at office of Myanmar opposition party
Dec 1, 2009, 11:24 GMT
Yangon - The headquarters of Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy was crowded Tuesday with 150 HIV-positive visitors to mark World Aids Day.
The group was led by AIDS activist Phyu Phyu Thin, 38, who runs a treatment, medicine and counselling service for anyone infected with the HIV virus or with AIDS in Yangon.
The political situation in the country may remain unresolved, with the National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned in her own home elsewhere in the city, but Phyu Phyu said HIV did not distinguish between political tendencies.
The 3,000 patients who go to her clinic include members of the police special branch, the army and police and the regime's own political party, she noted.
One visitor, Ma Aye Aye Khing, 39, said she was shocked to find she was HIV positive, along with her 11-year-old daughter. Her husband is a political prisoner jailed after the 2007 monk protests.
'I have read many books about HIV. If I have medicine, I know I cannot die in a short time,' she said.
Phyu Phyu said she faced many difficulties in trying to help ordinary people infected by the virus, including finding enough medicine to meet the demand.
She was arrested by police in Yangon for organizing a prayer rally in 2007 to call for the release of Suu Kyi and held for a month in prison. She was also detained in 2000 at a rally in support of the opposition leader.
The government spent 191.4 million kyat (29 million dollars) in 2007 in fighting the disease. The United Nations agency UNAIDS has said AIDS cases in Myanmar dropped from 0.94 per cent of the population in 2000 to 0.67 per cent in 2007, the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Tuesday.
DPA
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1516381.php/HIV-patients-mark-AIDS-day-at-office-of-Myanmar-opposition-party
