Health News
Suu Kyi visits HIV-positive patients in Myanmar
Nov 17, 2010, 11:12 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi visited HIV-positive patients Wednesday and pleaded for public assistance, four days after her release from house arrest.
'Please help them. Donate money to them,' she told a media entourage that accompanied her to meet about 120 patients in South Dagon township, about 10 miles north-east of Yangon.
Patients and onlookers numbering about 500 cheered, 'Long Live Daw [Madam] Aung San Suu Kyi.'
HIV and AIDS gets short shrift from Myanmar's military government, and many patients were happy for the attention from Suu Kyi. One said she was 'crying with happiness.' Another said, 'I am surprised. I never thought she would visit us.'
Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the stigma that comes with being HIV-positive in Myanmar.
The latest government figures available showed it spent 191.4 million kyat (29 million dollars) in 2007 to fight the disease.
The United Nations reported that AIDS cases in Myanmar dropped from 0.94 per cent of the population in 2000 to 0.67 per cent in 2007, the official New Light of Myanmar reported late last year.
The news media has followed Suu Kyi's every step since her release from house arrest Saturday.
The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who spent 15 of the past 20 years in detention, returned to work Monday at the office of her party, the National League for Democracy, and has been meeting people, including foreign diplomats.
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