Myanmar 'stronghold' targets HIV
- Source: Global Times
- [03:03 December 02 2009]
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By Ren Jianmin in Yangon and Sun Wei in Beijing
The "secret stronghold" in Yangon is hard to tell apart from nearby buildings, since the Sunday Empowerment Group (SEG) is located on a normal lane in the Myanmar capital.
U Chit Ko Ko, one of the founders of the SEG, is a 60-year-old man who dresses in traditional Myanmar male attire. His office on Saturday was filled with boxes of fruits and flowers, in preparation for Tuesday's large-scale celebration of World AIDS Day.
In retrospect, he spoke of his rebirth from being a dying man to a founder of the SEG, which encourages other HIV positive patients to continue their fight.
Being HIV positive for a few years, U Chit Ko Ko was even isolated by his family. He stepped forward and cofounded the SEG with the help of UNAIDS, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, and other non-governmental organizations.
Registered in 2004, the SEG persisted in organizing regular activities Sunday.
It encourages HIV positive people by teaching knowledge, sharing information and supporting each other.
It has so far welcomed 2,500 members, and its method of self-rescue and mutual help among patients is recognized as the best way to combat AIDS.
"Some of the workers here are volunteers, and half of them are HIV positive," U Chit Ko Ko told the Global Times.
"Myanmar is one of the most severely affected Asian countries with HIV," Dr Sun Gang, the resident representative of UNAIDS in Myanmar, told the Global Times.
The first infected person was detected in 1988, and the number of infected once hit 300,000.
"Currently the number is stable, fluctuating around 240,000," Sun said.
Among channels of AIDS dissemination, cross-infection among drug users once made up 70 percent of HIV carriers in the country – a major drugs source, despite the government's severe crackdown.
