Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 012 339 at noon on Wednesday June 15
The HIV/Aids pandemic in Burma is ‘being fuelled by a mixture of ignorance, denial and lack of government action”, which is a ‘dangerous cocktail” that could result in an HIV/Aids prevalence consistent with some African nations, according to the Bangkok Post.
According to aid workers, about two-thirds of commercial sex workers in the capital city of Rangoon are HIV-positive and an estimated one-fifth of pregnant women in the commercial town of Lashio are infected with the virus. If current trends continue, as much as one-quarter of the population of Burma could be affected by HIV/Aids within the next 10 years, according to the Post.
Although the military government recently has supported HIV/Aids educational campaigns, it remains in a ‘state of denial”, saying Burma’s ‘culture and religion” limit the spread of the virus. The government says more than 300 000 of the country’s 54-million people are HIV-positive, but UNAids estimates that twice as many people between 15 and 49 are living with the disease.
Source: Kaisernetwork.org