Today’s New York Times featured an excellent story [1] about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Burma. It’s about time more attention was paid to this problem – considered to be the largest HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southeast Asia. What’s worse than the scale of the crisis is that, in this day and age where the US and other developed countries are focused on ameliorating the worst effects of HIV/AIDS throughout Africa and countries around the world, tens of thousands of Burmese are dying every year exactly because they are not receiving the aid they need to survive. The Times story details the statistics, so I’ll leave that to them. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few stories from our work in Burma that highlight just how severe the problem is.
In August 2008, RI met with a Burmese organization dedicated to providing help to people suffering from HIV/AIDS. The founder began his work in part because he found out his son was suffering from the disease and wanted to help others. Because they don’t have funds to provide drugs to their members, they have turned to traditional coping mechanisms in their work. Namely, they teach HIV/AIDS sufferers how to practice Buddhist meditation so that at least their suffering and death can be more peaceful. When resources are available, they try to cover funeral expenses. In 2005 they opened a clinic in downtown Rangoon to try to meet some of the immediate needs of their patients – the clinic is run by three volunteer doctors. Despite the challenges that they face, their work has spawned new chapters throughout the country that follow the same model of providing comfort to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In February 2009, RI met with patients and clients at a health clinic run by an international health agency. At the clinic, we met patients who were receiving the most basic of medical care. When we asked them where they would go for treatment if the clinic wasn’t available, they told us, "there is nowhere else to go." Later that day, we met with a group of peer educators. We asked them how much their peers know about HIV/AIDS, and they told us, "For many people, the first time they’ve learned anything about the disease and how to prevent it is from us." Later, when talking to one of the doctors at the clinic, she told us that the HIV/AIDS rate for her gay male support group was about 65%. Sadly, this clinic is turning away patients because their services are at maximum capacity until new funding appears.
The most frustrating aspect of Burma’s HIV/AIDS crisis is that there are dozens of organizations – from large, international agencies like Population Services International and Doctors Without Borders to small local groups like the ones above -- working throughout the country to address a growing crisis. Every agency that RI has talked to says that if they were given more resources, they would have the capacity to expand their work and reach more people. More importantly, if they were provided with lifesaving drugs, they have thousands of people who they could treat easily.
The US government continues to take a very cautious approach to providing humanitarian assistance to Burma. In 2009, it will provide roughly $15 million to Burma, the vast majority for cyclone relief operations. What’s left for other problems, like HIV/AIDS, amounts to pennies in a country of 50 million people. RI is calling for Congress to double its assistance to Burma in 2010 to $30 million – only about sixty cents per person, but an improvement from where we are now.