Burma revealed as prime source of HIV

[rickfarang]

In these days when terrorism grabs the headlines, we are all too weary to think much about he mundane plagues of today - Malaria, HIV, Smoking, but this article seems to have some relevance to some nightlife sectors since many of the CSW's seem to come from Burma.---------------------

Burma revealed as prime source of HIV

By Connie Levett Herald Correspondent In Bangkok

July 23, 2005

 

Burma has been identified as the cradle of HIV in East Asia, with all but one of the main strains of the virus in the region thought to have originated there.

 

Using DNA fingerprinting, scientists have mapped the spread and mutation of the virus from India to China. All genetic clues lead back to Burma, whose government has little interest in tackling the problem.

 

In 2004, Burma's military rulers spent $US22,000 ($29,000) on HIV programs, for a population of 50 million. The junta spends 2.7 per cent of its budget on public health and 40 per cent on arms.

 

"The Burmese HIV contribution to much of Asia poses a clear security threat to the region," says a report by the US Council on Foreign Relations.

 

"Only one outbreak of HIV in a region spanning from Kazakhstan to southern Vietnam has a genetic fingerprint pointing to an origin outside of Burma, namely the Henan, China, outbreak that is linked to illegal blood sales and transfusion practices," the report said.

 

Dr Chris Beyrer, an expert on HIV/AIDS in Asia at Johns Hopkins University in the US, said "it has been clear for more than a decade that a narcotics economy is a threat to the region. The HIV problem is a direct and unfortunate consequence of the narcotics problem."

 

It was no coincidence that the states in India and China with the highest HIV infections were the ones bordering Burma, he said.

 

The Asian HIV strains can be traced along four main heroin trade routes, all starting in Burma. Until overtaken by Afghanistan in 2003, Burma was the biggest producer of heroin in the world.

 

Anecdotal evidence suggests the Afghan heroin trade is driving a similarly destructive pattern in Central Asia.