This is my only posting for World AIDS Day.

Jamie

++++++++++++++++++

Govt urges continued effort to combat HIV
Htoo Thant
Myanmar Times
3 December 2018

Myanmar officials have underscored the need for unrelenting efforts to combat HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infections, even as the rate of new infections in the country declines.

Dr May Khin Oo, assistant director of the Nay Pyi Taw Health Department, said the government is targeting what are considered vulnerable groups in the country, such as women working in entertainment places, homosexuals, and drug users.

“We are especially targeting women working in KTVs and massage parlours,” she told reporters at a World Aids Day event in Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday.

“We go to these places to urge workers to have blood tests. If they test positive, it is kept confidential,” she added.

Out of the 1.09 million people in Nay Pyi Taw, 2308 adults and 130 children are on anti-HIV drugs.

The Health Department said that from January to October this year, there were 526 new infections, including 26 children. Last year, the number of new infections reached 600.

Myanmar has the fourth-highest HIV infection rate among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said U Tin Tun of the Nay Pyi Taw council.

High HIV infection rates are found in the regions and states of Kachin, northern Shan, Sagaing, Mandalay and Yangon. According to 2017 statistics, there were 227,000 people infected with AIDS across the country.

“(The HIV infection rate) was highest in 2007 (28,000) and dropped to just over 10,000 in 2017,” he said.

In Sagaing, regional Social Welfare Minister Dr Zaw Win blamed the high rate of HIV/AIDS infections on intravenous injections. He said about 20.77 percent of HIV-infected patients got the infection from drug injections.

The government operates 14 dispensaries offering methadone treatment to HIV patients, and the regional government provides HIV blood tests and an education campaign for migrant workers, youths and prisoners.

The government has launched a two-year HIV/AIDS flagship project in the five regions and states backed by US$10 million (K15.89 billion) provided by the United States Agency for International Development.

The project aims to intensify HIV prevention in cooperation with non-governmental organisations and private health providers for people infected with the virus. The programme will also boost monitoring of vulnerable groups.

https://www.mmtimes.com/news/govt-urges-continued-effort-combat-hiv.html