Dying and alone in Myanmar

This beautiful Southeast Asian island holds a terrible truth: According to today's NY Times, "Médecins Sans Frontières estimates that 240,000 people are currently infected with H.I.V. in Myanmar and that 76,000 are in urgent need of antiretroviral drugs. Every year, about 25,000 people with the virus die."

The article recounts the poignant tale of the sufferings of these quarter of a million of our brothers and sisters who are dying of H.I.V. Yes, in this the year of 2009, over two hundred thousand of our brothers and sisters are not just dying, but in many cases, dying alone of this ravaging disease. They die alone due to the societal stigmas that continue to be attached to H.I.V. and AIDS.

According to the article, "This year, the United Nations-backed Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has applied for government permits to bring antiretroviral drugs into Myanmar, and the number of people receiving treatment is likely to rise.
But that will only be one step. Fewer than 20 percent of those who need the drugs receive them, either from international groups or, in very small amounts, from the government, Médecins Sans Frontières said in a report released in November."

Please take the time to read the article in its entirety, as always and contact the powers that be to ask them to increase funding to Myanmar H.I.V. and AIDS victims.

Here is the link to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/world/asia/01iht-myanmar.html?_r=1&hp