PRI's "The World" Series Examines Myanmar's HIV/AIDS Epidemic

"The World," a production of BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston, on Monday is scheduled to air the first segment of a two-part series examining Myanmar's HIV/AIDS epidemic and how the promotion of opium production and the heroin trade; the restriction of speech and the press; the economic policies prompting migration of unemployed workers; and the lack of investment in public health are contributing to the spread of HIV in the country. The first segment in the series will include interviews with local physicians who, under threat of imprisonment, speak about the growing HIV/AIDS crisis. One physician said he was ordered to dismiss soldiers who tested HIV-positive without explaining their diagnosis. Another physician said that he must leave his sickest patients on the side of the road to give bed space to other individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The second segment in the series will examine how Myanmar's policies are contributing to the spread of HIV to neighboring countries such as China and Thailand, and how international organizations disagree over the ways in which the situation could be improved (de Guzman, "The World," PRI, 4/24). Reporter Orlando de Guzman received a Kaiser Family Foundation mini fellowship for this series.

Audio of the series will be available online in Windows Media after the broadcast.

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