HIV/TB AIS Activity at International HIV Conferences in 2024

12-7-2024

The HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity, and its implementing partners have been implementing innovative HIV service delivery projects in Myanmar, based on internationally recommended best practices. These projects involve innovative service delivery models, which are reviewed to document and learn from the experiences with aim to demonstrate their contribution to improving HIV prevention interventions, HIV testing, and care and treatment services. AIS and its partners also actively share their experiences with international communities at HIV/AIDS conferences.

During 2024, AIS and its partners were selected for several abstracts to be presented at well-known international HIV conferences. Differentiated service delivery of PrEP with key population- led organizations in Myanmar will be presented as an oral presentation at AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Munich, Germany, from 22 to 26 July 2024 whereas in-person poster presentations for

Myanmar’s experience with PWID-centric PrEP access in harm reduction initiatives
Enhancing HIV Self-Testing (HIVST) coverage among diverse communities and future directions in Myanmar: Insights from a Pilot Project (May 2022 – March 2024)
Index testing contributes to escalating HIV case-finding in the AIS project: a successful HIV case-finding model in Myanmar
Role of Social Media Outreach program in engaging key populations for HIV services: Findings from a mixed-method study in Myanmar
Breaking Barriers: A Comprehensive Social Media Campaign Against HIV Discrimination
Reaching unreached PWID through Integration of PWID-centric approaches in hard-to-reach areas in Northern Myanmar
Reducing the incidence of HIV by scaling up interventions for women who use drugs and partners of people who use drugs
Horizontal integration of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) into HIV care for Key populations (KP) among USAID projects in Myanmar.

Scaling up HIV Self Testing through different distribution channels in Myanmar will be presented as an oral presentation at the 5th HIV Research for Prevention Conference, which will take place in Lima, Peru from 6 to 10 October 2024 including a poster presentation for Qualitative assessment on perceived barriers and facilitators to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Myanmar.

Enhancing HIV testing access in Myanmar: a review of HIV self-testing (HIVST) pilot project and implementation channels (May 2022 to February 2024) will be presented as a poster presentation at the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference, 2024 which will be held in Sydney from 16 to 18 September 2024.

Empowering HIV prevention: Strategies to more meaningful engage key population (KP) and community leaders in driving tailored HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) communications in Myanmar was presented as a poster presentation at the Asia-Pacific AIDS & Co-Infections Conference (APACC) 2024 which was being held in Hong Kong from 27 to 29 June 2024.

Strategies unveiled: boosting HIV case findings among young injectors (15-24 years) in hard-to-reach areas of Myanmar through the AIS project: Programmatic review (fiscal year 2022 Q1 – 2024 Q1) will be presented as poster presentation at INHSU, 2024 the 12th International Conference on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users which will take place in Athens, Greece from 8 to 11 October 2024.

AIS and its implementing partners have a focused learning agenda regarding priority interventions for HIV prevention, care, and treatment activities with objective to innovate, advocate, adopt, and amplify internationally recommended service delivery models and innovations in Myanmar. AIS will gather insights from program implementation experiences, advocate for national-level adoption with stakeholders, and collaborate with policymakers to amplify best practices. This will inform policies and program scale-up in the country, thereby improving access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for key populations in Myanmar.

World TB Day: Raising TB Awareness Online

World TB Day, observed annually on March 24th, aims to raise public awareness about the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic and ongoing efforts to eradicate it. The USAID HIV/AIDS Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity led by Community Partners International (CPI) conducted a series of online campaigns with local partners in Myanmar themed “Yes! We Can End TB.” This year’s objectives include enhancing public understanding of TB within local communities, facilitating case finding, promoting timely treatment of TB, and encouraging community participation in World TB Day initiatives.

In early March, the AIS Activity launched a chatbot on the End TB Together Facebook page. This chatbot provides comprehensive information on TB, covering diagnosis, treatment, TB preventive therapy (TPT), and drug-resistant strains.

The AIS Activity also conducted online engagement campaigns through the End TB Together Facebook page. On March 24th, the page’s audience was invited to add a World TB Day frame to their Facebook profile picture for a chance to win a prize. More than 400 people participated, and 15 won a prize.

The AIS Activity also promoted a World TB Day photo challenge campaign through the End TB Together Facebook page. Participants took photos featuring the pledge “Take TPT to Prevent TB” in their local language and publicly shared their photos on Facebook tagging two friends and including the hashtags #TB, #WorldTBDay, #YesWeCanEndTB, and EndTBTogether.

Through these engaging online activities, the AIS Activity encouraged communities across Myanmar to take proactive steps in understanding, preventing, and treating TB. These efforts not only provide individuals with crucial knowledge but also encourage collective action and amplify the resounding theme, “Yes! We Can End TB.”

The USAID HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity aims to achieve HIV epidemic control by ensuring 95 percent of people living with HIV in Burma are aware of their status, 95 percent of those identified as positive are on antiretroviral treatment, and 95 percent of those on treatment are virally suppressed. It also aims to achieve a Burma free from TB by reaching every person with TB, curing those in need of treatment, and preventing the spread of disease and new infections. It is funded by PEPFAR and the Global Accelerator to End TB through USAID.

World TB Day Campaign Highlights Awareness to Help End TB

World TB Day, an annual commemoration on March 24th, is a pivotal occasion to spotlight global efforts to eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) and foster awareness. It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes TB. On World TB Day, various organizations, agencies, and communities come together to educate and raise public awareness about the global impact of TB, the challenges in diagnosis and treatment, and the importance of prevention measures to end TB.

The day before World TB Day, the USAID HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity, in collaboration with the Myanmar Anti-TB Association (MATA) and Karen Baptist Convention (KBC), organized in-person events to raise public awareness of TB in local communities and strengthen efforts to end TB.

A diverse crowd of around 300 people gathered at the KBC Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar, to participate in World TB Day activities ranging from health awareness sessions to an interactive “Spin and Win” game.

In a keynote speech, Dr. Kyaw Phyo Naing, Deputy Chief of Party of the AIS Activity, underscored the importance of awareness in combating TB: “TB is curable and also preventable,” he emphasized. “By raising awareness about TB, individuals are more inclined to seek consultation, leading to increased case detection. Treating more cases reduces transmission and prevents the spread to others. I urge everyone to detect symptoms early and seek prompt treatment. Together, we can end TB.”

Central to the event was the colorful TB “spin and win” wheel, offering a fun and interactive way for participants to engage with the topic. Before spinning the wheel, participants attended health awareness sessions where they learned about TB. Afterward, they spun the wheel and answered questions that tested their TB knowledge and reinforced key messages. Winners received prizes with a TB-related message, and TB information pamphlets with a hotline number for free TB diagnoses and links to additional resources.

“I enjoyed playing the ‘spin the wheel’ game,” said participant Wai Lin. “It tested my understanding of TB, and won a prize. It’s a good way to raise awareness. The pamphlet and hotline details are useful. I can share them with others who couldn’t attend the event”

The impact of the World TB Day campaign extended beyond the event, as photos and messages from the event were shared on the End TB Together Facebook page with hashtags such as #WorldTBDay, #YesWeCanEndTB, and #EndTBTogether.

The AIS Activity used the occasion of the World TB Day event to offer free TB screenings to participants. All participants underwent an initial assessment for symptoms, and more than 220 were screened using a digital chest X-ray. Fourteen presumptive TB cases were identified and referred to TB centers to receive specialized care. In addition to raising awareness, this initiative offered tangible early TB detection and treatment opportunities.

An App to Accelerate TB Screening

To address gaps in TB case detection, the AIS Activity promoted an innovative chatbot and hotline service called CareConnect at World TB Day events. Partnering with Population Services International (PSI) and the Shwe Ohh pharmacy (a private commercial pharmacy), 7,000 CareConnect flyers were distributed across Yangon. These flyers featured the CareConnect QR code that connects users to TB screening resources. By scanning the QR code, individuals can connect directly with care providers and facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.

Collaborative Efforts to Raise TB Awareness

The AIS Activity also partnered with Foodpanda, a prominent food and grocery delivery service in Myanmar, to raise TB awareness. Foodpanda’s 600 riders in Yangon distributed around 6,000 TB information pamphlets with their deliveries across the city. The riders also wore sleeves bearing the TB information hotline number. This powerful collaboration expanded the reach of TB messaging on World TB Day.

In Myanmar, the AIS Activity is implementing programmatic and technical innovations to scale up HIV services, reach 95-95-95 prevention, testing, and treatment objectives, and achieve TB-free Myanmar. The AIS Activity supports efforts to scale up TB services to end TB as a public health threat in Myanmar. Through World TB Day activities, the AIS Activity raised TB awareness and expanded TB screening initiatives, supporting global efforts to end TB.

World TB Day: Quizzing the People of Yangon

To mark World TB Day, the “End TB Together” Facebook page went out on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar, to quiz the public about their knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) symptoms, transmission risks and treatment. Find out how they did!

The theme of this year’s World TB Day is “Yes! We can end TB.” TB is a bacterial infection spread through tiny droplets from the coughs and sneezes of an infected person. It is one of the world’s deadliest diseases but can be cured with proper treatment. In 2022, 10.6 million people fell ill with TB and 1.3 million people died of the disease. In recent years, there has been a worrying increase in drug-resistant TB.

Myanmar is one of 30 countries identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having a high burden of TB, HIV-associated TB, and TB drug resistance. The WHO estimates that the number of people who had TB in Myanmar rose by more than a third from 194,000 in 2021 to 257,000 in 2022. Estimated deaths from TB in Myanmar also rose nearly 40% from 36,000 in 2021 to nearly 50,000 in 2022. According to the National TB Prevalence Survey (2018), the Yangon Region has the highest TB burden nationally.

World TB Day is an opportunity to accelerate action to end TB. Crucial to these efforts are public awareness and access to timely, affordable health care. Civil society organizations play a vital role in Myanmar and worldwide in raising awareness of TB, identifying suspected cases, and connecting people to care.

Animated Video: Helping People With HIV Understand Antiretroviral Therapy

The technique uses three “B-OK” bottles containing colored beads that help health care providers to explain to people living with HIV (PLHIV) in easy-to-understand terms about the best time to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) and why, and the importance of staying on it.

One bottle contains red and black beads, a second contains only red beads, and a third contains black beads with a single red bead. Each bottle represents a different state of HIV in the human body.

The bottle of red and black beads symbolizes the moment after an HIV diagnosis when people face critical decisions about starting or delaying ART. It can also represent a person who is unaware that they are HIV-positive.

The bottle of red beads symbolizes the unchecked progression of HIV without treatment.

The bottle of black beads with a single red bead symbolizes viral suppression achieved by starting and adhering to ART.

Health care providers can use this method when counseling of PLHIV about their HIV diagnosis and ART options. It helps to dispel myths and reshape attitudes towards HIV diagnosis and treatment. It simply explains the benefits of starting and continuing on ART to health and reduce the risk of HIV transmission, and helps frame and amplify the concept of “U=U” (Undetectable = Untransmittable).

A new animated video created by the USAID HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity helps health care providers in Myanmar guide people living with HIV in their decisions around starting and staying on antiretroviral therapy.

World AIDS Day: Photo Contest Highlights Community Engagement in Myanmar’s HIV/AIDS Response

This year, the HIV/TB Agency, Information, and Services (AIS) Activity harnessed the power of social media to launch a series of online initiatives in support of World AIDS Day. Spanning five weeks from mid-November to mid-December, these activities were designed to amplify the World AIDS Day theme of “Let Communities Lead”. The highlight of this year’s events was the World AIDS Day photo contest.

Through the World AIDS Day online photo contest, the AIS Activity encouraged active community participation and documented their key role in the HIV/AIDS response. Stakeholders, including AIS Activity partner organizations, participated by sharing photo contest news on their Facebook pages and displaying posters around client sites.

A distinguished panel of judges reviewed the submitted photographs. Panel member and international award-winning photographer, Aung Chan Thar, expressed his excitement at being involved in judging competition entries and highlighted the significant impact photography can have in raising awareness and uplifting communities. “Photography has always been a useful medium for educating people, so organizing photo contests that promote awareness is truly commendable,” he said. “As a photographer, it’s an honor to know that my work can make an impact on our society. I’m genuinely excited to be part of this photography competition and feel privileged to serve as one of the judges.”

The contest welcomed submissions from photographers with different levels of experience and skill and received entries from all over Myanmar. The diversity of submissions added depth to the documentation of community support in the HIV/AIDS response.

Winners’ Voices

The first prize was awarded to Aye Lwin Oo for his striking photograph containing four panels of posed silhouettes framing key messages around HIV/AIDS. Using a simple technique of a fabric screen and bright light, the panels of Aye Lwin Oo’s photograph include the words “equity”, “respect”, “inclusion” and “hope” as well as references to safer sex and drug use. “I decided to participate in this contest because I recognize the pivotal role of community leadership in addressing HIV/AIDS and the imperative to empower community leaders,” he said.

Through his lens, Aye Lwin Oo advocates for community involvement in ending HIV/AIDS and stigma and promoting regular blood tests for early HIV detection. “It is essential for all community members to understand that HIV/AIDS should not be stigmatized and that those living with the virus should not face exclusion,” he emphasized. “Drawing on my experiences as a photographer and videographer, I have witnessed the positive impact of HIV treatment and the transformative journeys of individuals living with HIV. I see it as my human duty to be actively engaged in such initiatives.”

The second prize was awarded to Thein Htike for his image of cupped hands holding the red ribbon symbolizing World AIDS Day around the word “AIDS”. “The message of my photo is that we must collaborate in our response to HIV/AIDS,” revealed Thein Htike. “The hands symbolize the collective support for those living with HIV/AIDS,” he continued.

The third prize was awarded to Zwel Thu for his photograph of hands surrounding a man wearing the red ribbon. “The message of my photograph is that the whole community including family and friends is crucial in the response to HIV.AIDS,” Zwel Thu explained. “Through the power of collaboration, we can raise awareness and provide assistance, care and encouragement.”

This year’s World AIDS Day campaign is a prime example of the power of community-led activism and advocacy for change. The use of online platforms allows the campaign to reach a larger audience, fostering a sense of global community and solidarity in the HIV/AIDS response. Working together is essential to successfully respond to HIV/AIDS, and World AIDS Day is a good reminder of this. Activating communities is a huge step toward bringing an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The AIS Activity’s campaign activities on World AIDS Day are not merely symbolic; AIS actively promotes awareness of HIV/AIDS and draws attention to the efforts of communities in preventing and treating HIV, and ultimately working towards a world without AIDS. The AIS Activity innovates to scale up HIV services and reach 95-95-95 prevention, testing, and treatment objectives. Despite the challenges created by Myanmar’s political instability, the AIS Activity continues to provide lifesaving HIV- and TB services for key populations at higher risk of HIV infection, with the generous support of PEPFAR and the Global Accelerator to End TB through USAID.

World AIDS Day: Let Communities Lead

To mark World AIDS Day in Myanmar, the HIV/TB Agency, Information, and Services (AIS) Activity supported a campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, and recognize the essential role that communities play in HIV/AIDS response. A diverse group of stakeholders, including ten HIV partners, actively participated in the AIS Activity’s World AIDS Day campaign.

“We advocate for an effective HIV/AIDS response and show support for those living with HIV.”

World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1, is a global initiative dedicated to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, supporting individuals living with HIV, and commemorating those lost to the disease. This year’s theme, “Let Communities Lead,” highlights the significance of community-driven initiatives in addressing HIV/AIDS.

In Yangon, Myanmar’s most populous city, volunteer teams distributed boxes of condoms bearing the World AIDS Day theme and branding, HIV self-testing kits, information pamphlets, and World AIDS Day-themed T-shirts. The volunteers, who are living with HIV themselves, shared key messages about HIV/ AIDS and prevention methods. These activities helped foster awareness about HIV and AIDS within the local communities.

“Celebrating World AIDS Day is a good opportunity for us, the peer community, to spread the message far and wide and extend care for HIV/ AIDS,” commented one volunteer. “We advocate for an effective HIV/AIDS response and show support for those living with HIV. Communities play a pivotal role in HIV control. They are crucial in successfully preventing and treating HIV,” he continued. “Our activities help to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and promote preventive measures among key populations. I am thrilled to take part in the World AIDS Day campaign and promote HIV awareness.”

During the campaign, participants wore red ribbons – a universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV – to foster empathy and challenge the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.

“This is not just for one day; it is an ongoing initiative. Together, we can make a difference.”

Young people were also actively engaged in the AIS-sponsored World AIDS Day events in Myitkyina, Kachin State. Through health talks, awareness-raising quizzes, demonstrations, social games and the distribution of HIV information leaflets, young people gained insight about HIV/AIDS.

“It was a remarkable experience being part of the World AIDS Day campaign,” revealed Dr. Pyae Pyae Phyo, program manager of the AIS Activity. “We showed our solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS and contributed to the elimination of stigma. This not just for one day; it is an ongoing initiative. Together, we can make a difference.”

World AIDS Day: Safer Sex Work

When May*, a female sex worker in Yangon, Myanmar, found out she was HIV positive, she was devastated. Limited awareness of HIV, and the illegality and stigmatization of sex work, puts female sex workers and their clients at greater risk. Research indicates that one in six female sex workers in Yangon is HIV positive.

A community organization in Yangon supported by Community Partners International is working to prevent and treat HIV among female sex workers and their close contacts. They helped May come to terms with her diagnosis and are supporting her to receive free antiretroviral therapy (ART). This support helps her stay healthy and reduces the risk of transmission. Watch our short video below to find out more.

The AIS Learning Platform: A Collaborative Hub to Help End HIV and TB in Myanmar

In the ever-evolving landscape of health care, staying up-to-date with the latest knowledge and techniques is crucial, especially in areas as complex and significant as HIV and TB. A new online learning platform is helping health care service providers and researchers in Myanmar (Burma) access learning and knowledge-sharing to improve HIV and tuberculosis (TB) prevention and treatment services for communities in need.

In December 2022, the HIV/TB Agency, Information, and Services (AIS) Activity in Myanmar, funded by USAID under the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Accelerator to End Tuberculosis, and implemented by Community Partners International (CPI), launched the AIS Learning Platform.

The platform offers HIV and TB training courses, webinars, workshops, resource and knowledge-sharing, and collaboration opportunities to help health care service providers and researchers in Myanmar stay up-to-date with the latest HIV and TB information and improve HIV and TB services. The platform aims to share best practices in the field of HIV/TB service delivery, advocate for their implementation, and create an HIV/TB Community of Practice to help achieve collective objectives.

Since its launch, more than 450 Myanmar health care service providers and researchers have registered on the platform to learn, share, engage, and collaborate with their peers. It has become a community-driven hub for health professionals and researchers in Myanmar working on HIV and TB.

One of the core activities of the platform is Community of Practice (COP) sharing sessions, conducted mostly in Burmese language. Since the platform’s launch, six of these sessions have been conducted, each drawing in more than 120 participants. These sessions brought together a spectrum of stakeholders including HIV/TB prevention and treatment service providers, donor agencies, and civil society organizations. The exchange of insights, experiences, and innovative practices has sparked new perspectives and catalyzed collaborative efforts.

If you’d like to join the community and participate in upcoming Community of Practice sessions, register now. It takes just a few minutes to sign up. A step-by-step guide is available to walk you through the process. Join us and help create a healthier future for all!

Bubble Tea and TB: Foodpanda Myanmar Delivers TB Messages in Innovative Link-up with Community Partners International

As Foodpanda riders weave through the streets of Yangon, Myanmar, they’re not just bringing noodles, bubble tea, and other tasty food and drinks to their customers. They’re also delivering important messages about diagnosing and treating tuberculosis (TB). Since World TB Day (March 24), more than 1,000 Foodpanda riders across the city have been wearing special shirts with the message, “If you’ve been coughing for two weeks or more, test for TB at your nearest clinic”, emblazoned on the back in Burmese.

The shirt and the message are part of an awareness campaign to “End TB Together” supported by Foodpanda in partnership with Community Partners International (CPI).

TB is a bacterial infection, spread through tiny droplets from the coughs and sneezes of an infected person. It is a serious disease and a very real threat to public health in Myanmar but can be cured with proper treatment. Myanmar is one of 30 countries identified by the World Health Organization {WHO) as having a high burden of TB, HIV-associated TB, and TB drug resistance. The WHO estimates that 194,000 people had TB in Myanmar in 2021, and more than 36,000 people died of the disease. And, according to the National TB Prevalence Survey (2018), Yangon Region has the highest TB burden nationally.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, TB was the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide. As the pandemic disrupted health services, TB prevention activities fell back. As a result, the number of cases identified in Myanmar and worldwide fell in 2020, not because there were fewer of them, but because health systems couldn’t sustain case-finding activities. In 2021, case notifications began to climb again to pre-pandemic levels in much of the world. But, in Myanmar, they continued to fall, from 105,380 in 2020 to 65,125 in 2021. These figures indicate that many thousands of TB cases remain undiagnosed and untreated in the Myanmar population.

Making an estimated 18,000 journeys each day in Yangon, Foodpanda’s fleet of riders are a familiar sight on the city’s roads. The TB prevention message that the riders carry on their shirts is visible to potentially hundreds of thousands of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians each day as they ferry deliveries to customers. To reinforce the message on their shirts, the drivers also distributed TB information pamphlets to as many as 35,000 customers in the week following World TB Day. And 50,000 pamphlets have been distributed to Foodpanda’s network of vendors in Yangon to share with walk-in customers.

The shirts and pamphlets include a hotline, 0988 044 1080, that people can call between 8 am and 4 pm, Monday to Friday, to find out where they can access free TB diagnosis and treatment. The campaign will also feature media interviews, articles, and talk show appearances to further spread awareness about TB, and diagnosis and treatment options, to communities across Myanmar.

This link-up between Foodpanda and Community Partners International offers an innovative and powerful way to bring crucial public health messaging about TB to Yangon’s residents. By raising awareness and offering practical support, the campaign will help diagnose and treat more TB cases, and reduce the burden of TB across Myanmar.

World TB Day: Bringing TB Treatment to Myanmar’s Remote Naga Communities

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant challenge to public health in Myanmar (Burma). On World TB Day, we talk to TB patients and health workers in remote communities of the Naga Self-Administered Zone to discover how USAID’s HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services Activity, led by Community Partners International, is helping to ensure access to testing and treatment.

Myanmar is one of 30 countries identified by the World Health Organization as having a high burden of TB and one of just ten also to face a high burden of HIV-associated TB and TB drug resistance. TB is a bacterial infection spread through inhaling tiny droplets from the coughs or sneezes of an infected person. It generally affects the lungs but can affect other parts of the body. It is a serious disease but is curable with proper treatment.

Reaching remote and marginalized communities in Myanmar with TB services has always been challenging, but rising turmoil and conflict since the February 2021 coup have made this even more difficult. With support from Community Partners International (CPI) under the USAID’s Agency, Information, and Services (AIS) Activity, the organization Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) provides TB prevention and treatment services to about 120,000 people in 100 villages in the Naga Self-Administered Zone (SAZ).

Situated in the northern tip of Myanmar’s Sagaing Region, bordering the Indian State of Nagaland, this mountainous frontier tract is one of Myanmar’s most isolated areas. The majority of the population is ethnic Naga, a group of more than 40 tribes who inhabit India’s Nagaland State and northwestern Myanmar. Shan, Kachin, and Bamar ethnic populations also live in the Naga SAZ.

“Now I can see a way to overcome this disease.”

Ko Sai Lann, 28, farms the hills around his village in Lahe Township in the Naga SAZ. “I suspected I had TB because I had been coughing and in pain for a long time,” he explains. “To reach the hospital, we have to go to India, which takes two days on foot, or to Lahe town, which takes three days on foot. But we have some MAM volunteers in our village, and I asked them for help.”

A MAM volunteer helped Ko Sai Lann get tested for TB at the township TB center, and he was diagnosed as positive. “I was sad and depressed, but the doctor encouraged me that I could be cured if I took medicine regularly. MAM supported me with a travel allowance to be examined and get treatment. They also provided me with a basket of nutritious food.”

“I’m thankful for their help as it’s tough to get treatment in this remote region,” Ko Sai Lann continues. “Before I was diagnosed, I suffered pain and felt very sick. But now I can see a way to overcome this disease.”

Kway, 26, is a field worker for MAM’s TB project in Lahe Township. “My job is to help screen people for TB in remote communities,” he explains. “People here face many health care barriers, including transport and financial problems. MAM provides referral services and TB testing facilities at the township TB center.”

“I was depressed and cried from the pain.”

When Kway identifies a possible TB case, he refers the patient to the township TB center in Lahe town. “They can test sputum and conduct X-rays,” he confirms. “MAM supports their travel allowance and meal costs if they need hospitalization. We also give them a basket of nutritious food to help boost their immune system, and we follow up to ensure they take their medicines regularly.”

Daw Ah Lar, 40, was also affected by TB. “I suspected I had TB in 2022 when I experienced stomach pain,” she explains. “I then had other symptoms like fatigue, appetite loss, and difficulty sleeping. I was depressed and cried from the pain. Sometimes, I didn’t want to talk with anyone. I stayed alone at home and lost weight.”

She also received help from MAM. “Kway helped to arrange transportation for me to get tested and then referred me to the hospital,” she confirms. “MAM provided a travel allowance, and I also received a nutritious food basket.”

“If I hadn’t chosen to get treatment, I think I would be dead now.”

Kway and his fellow health workers at MAM have to navigate many obstacles in their quest to reach TB patients. “The main challenge is transportation, particularly in the rainy season,” he explains. “There are also language barriers between different communities. There’s not much health education here, so talking to people about TB can be difficult. Sometimes, people get diagnosed late because they’re unaware they have TB.”

Kway urges fellow community members to be vigilant about TB. “If in doubt, get tested for TB. It can be cured if you take medicine regularly till the end of the treatment course.”

Daw Ah Lar agrees. “If I hadn’t chosen to get treatment, I think I would be dead now,” she says. “I received a lot of help from MAM. I was in terrible pain, but now I feel better after taking the medicines regularly. TB medicines can save many lives. I am the best example of this. I encourage everyone to believe that they can beat this disease. With proper medicine, we can all return to a normal life.”

World TB Day: Bringing TB Treatment to Myanmar’s Remote Naga Communities

HIV/TB AIS Activity at International HIV Conferences in 2024