Taboos About Sex Hinder HIV Prevention in Myanmar, but Condoms Gain Ground

Myanmar's reclusive military junta used to arrest women for carrying condoms, but now it is opening up, at least a little, to foreign AIDS groups and is promoting safer sex and condoms under a joint government-UN plan. An estimated 1.2 percent of Myanmar's adult population has HIV -- one of Asia's highest infection rates -- and other studies suggest its infection rate could be twice that.

Medical experts are especially concerned with the epidemic's furious pace during the last three years. At the end of March 2002, an estimated 177,000 people had HIV, but the number of infections almost doubled to approximately 339,000 people by the end of 2004, according to the military government's National AIDS Program (NAP).

The junta permits nongovernmental organizations to drive around the country, distributing free condoms and conducting safer sex education programs. And city and town residents can purchase condoms from street vendors or shops for as little as one penny.

Because Myanmar is one of the world's poorest countries and has a decrepit health system, prevention is the best hope, say experts.

"Teaching the correct technique of using condoms among adolescents and condom promotion to youth is very essential, and it's also essential that parents be educated in this respect at the same time," said an NAP official. "Our culture forbids sexual relationships before marriage and outside of married life. This is good for HIV/AIDS prevention." Traditional cultural values in the Buddhist nation are emphasized in youth campaigns.

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