Location: Kachin State and Yangon

Situation:

The military junta should organise general elections in 2010, but there is little hope of real change. Poverty, due to political economic restrictions and an under-investment in health and education,  increases, while the HIV/AIDS epidemic does not diminish. Two years after cyclone Nargis, reconstruction is necessary and important. Doctors of the World (DOW) remains the only international medical organisation present in the affected area.

Activities:

DOW's programme has two aims: the reduction of sexual transmission and harm reduction. In Yangon, comprehensive care is provided to sex workers and gay men by way of psychosocial  actions, prevention, screening and care for STIs, HIV/AIDS and  opportunistic infections, as well as by providing access to antiretrovirals (ARV). These activities are carried out in a day centre at a clinic and also take place in the town, in the areas where prostitutes work.

In the Kachin state, harm reduction for people who use drugs is carried out through a needle exchange programme, and access to a substitution treatment (methadone). The same prevention, screening and care activities that are conducted in Yangon are carried out in two day centres, as well as by mobile outreach teams.  As a result of the project at the end of 2009, 600 people were on ARV treatment, 63 were on methadone and 1,100,000 syringes had been distributed.

Outlook:
DOW will continue lobbying in favour of access to ARVs for  marginalised populations and harm reduction for people who use drugs. The aim for the end of 2010 is to have 1,060 patients on ARVs and 200 on methadone. DOW is preparing a new phase in 2011-2015, that will provide technical assistance to the public health services and local organisations.