Prevention and treatment of STIS and HIV

Location: Myitkyina (Kachin) and Yangon

Situation

The political situation in Burma is at an impasse and the economy has difficulty taking off. Because of the lack of progress in the democratic process, diplomatic and trade relations with western countries have continued to deteriorate. At the same time, cross border exports of Burmese raw materials to China, India and Thailand have been steadily increasing since 2004. In relation to health, HIV continues to ravage this country where intravenous drug use and prostitution are the main modes of transmission.

Activities:

MdM is focusing on prevention and access to treatment for STIs and HIV/AIDS among people working in prostitution and drug users. The work with prostitutes includes: prevention sessions on HIV/AIDS, free treatment for STIs and opportunistic infections, recreational workshops in our day centres, and condom distribution. By the end of December, 102 prostitutes were receiving anti-retroviral therapy.
The main activities with drug users are: promotion of harm reduction techniques in injecting places, distribution of needles and syringes, educational sessions and recreational workshops in our day centres.
Anti-retroviral therapy for eligible patients has not yet started. The key event has been the introduction of methadone substitution for seven drug use.

Outlook:

In Yangon, MdM will continue with comprehensive care for the beneficiaries. Despite facing increasing operational constraints, all our efforts in Kachin will focus on methadone substitution coupled with ARV administration (objective: 100 users on the substitution programme).

Project start date: January 2002

End date: December 2010