Suu Kyi Factor Helps AIDS Shelters

The international community has become much more interested in the plight of Burma's estimated 240,000 HIV/ AIDS sufferers since Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on Nov. 13, according to Phyu Phyu Thin, a well-known HIV/AIDS activist and a youth leader with Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).    

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Phyu Phyu Thin said, “We have worked on HIV/AIDS projects since 2002, but no one seemed to recognize our accomplishments. However, once Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released, the world suddenly became aware of our social projects.

“When we [the NLD] initiated the HIV/AIDS project, we only intended to educate patients and the public about the risks of HIV/ AIDS,” she said. “But once we saw the needs of the victims, we realized we had to take care of them.

"I would like to express my appreciation to the international community and also the many Burmese artists, celebrities and social workers who have become involved in our projects thanks to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” she added.

The NLD's main social project provides for three shelters in Rangoon that house  about 100 HIV/AIDS patients, and provides food, bedding, antiretroviral treatment (ARVs) and other drugs.

Recently, Paul Grove, a US senator, visited the shelter in South Dagon Township, and took note of the facilities, difficulties and costs involved in providing for the patients, Phyu Phyu Thin said.

Since the general election on Nov. 7 and Suu Kyi's release one week later, more and more people have expressed interest in the NLD's social projects, she added.

Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), said the release of Aung San Suu Kyi has given strength to the supporters of the NLD and to the staff and patients at the party's shelters.

“The NLD was declared an unlawful association by the military regime and that is why the public was afraid to become involved with their projects,” he said. “But now, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stands in front of them. I have no doubt that the local population and the international community will support the NLD projects from now on.”

The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper in Burma, reported on Nov. 24 that the HIV/ AIDS shelter run by the NLD would be closed because of the “possible spread of infectious disease from the patients,” citing government health officials.

It concluded: “As there are many patients at the shelter in a limited space … it can be a source of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases which are a complication of HIV/AIDS.”

That report was published one week after Suu Kyi visited the shelters on Nov. 17. Several observers said that the regime was trying to belittle the NLD and did not want Suu Kyi to win more respect from the citizens of Burma.

Meanwhile, The New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday that the availability of ARTs for the patients will be expanded in three townships: Monywa, Myingyan and Meiktila.

Of the 240,000 people estimated to be infected with HIV/AIDS in Burma, only about 10 percent receive treatment, according to NGOs and INGOs reporting in 2010.

via irrawaddy.org