BURMA: Unconscionable attempt to oust residents of AIDS hospice 26.11.

10 17:28

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Print This Article A Statement by the Asian Human Rights

Commission

BURMA: Unconscionable attempt to

oust residents of AIDS hospice
One of the first trips that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made
after her release this 13 November 2010 was to a
privately-run hospice for persons living with HIV/AIDS
in Rangoon, where she offered words of encouragement
to residents.

Since then, the government has ordered that all of the

82 persons and their carers leave the hospice in Dagon
Myothit (South) Township. In an article published
yesterday, November 23, the state-run New Light of
Myanmar newspaper reported that a doctor from the
health department and team notified the persons at the
hospice on November 20 that the conditions at the
hospice were not hygienic and that everyone should
move to the Special Hospital (Thakayta).

The timing of the visit from the health department,

coming hot on the heels of the visit of the country's
democracy leader, can hardly be coincidental, and
attempts by the authorities in Burma make it look
otherwise are utterly implausible. The hospice has been
running for some five years without prior interference
or difficulty caused to the local population, and there is
no apparent reason that it should now suddenly be
ordered to close other than that it hosted the visit of
Aung San Suu Kyi. It is one of three such premises set
up by a group led by Ma Phyu Phyu Thin that began its
work around 2002.

The description of the hospice in the newspaper, which

creates the impression that it is a health hazard and a
place in which no one would stay unless they had no
other choice, is contrary to the accounts given by
residents. In interviews with media based abroad, these
persons have all said that they prefer to stay in the
hospice, that they are happy there, have their food,

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BURMA: Unconscionable attempt to oust residents of AIDS hospice 26.11.10 17:28

medicines and other needs taken care of, and are

otherwise pleased that they do not have to be
hospitalized. Their statements have been confirmed by
those from other sources, who have added that the
hospice is being managed with the involvement of
doctors and nurses who are HIV/AIDS specialists.

Their preference to stay at the hospice is unsurprising.

The hospice is in most respects a far better institution
for the care and treatment of persons living with
HIV/AIDS than the type of hospitalization program to
which the government of Burma adheres. Whereas in
the latter, persons are isolated and treated as patients,
in the former, they are kept in society and allowed to
go on with their lives in a loving environment. Staff in
public hospitals in Burma also routinely "charge"
patients for services that they should be getting for
free, including basic services like provision of medicines
and bed space. The hospice is thus much more in
keeping with international standards for the care of
persons living with HIV/AIDS than the special hospital
to which the government proposes that these persons
relocate.

Rather than shutting down the hospice, the government

of Burma should be learning from it and supporting it.
If the hospice lacks space and supplies, the persons
managing it should be invited to sit down and discuss
with health department personnel about what the
government can do to make the situation better. They
should be discussing how this type of institution can be
replicated across the country, rather than thinking in
terms of hospitalization, which in any event can only
address the needs of a small number of the hundreds
of thousands of persons living with HIV/AIDS in Burma.

The Asian Human Rights Commission calls for a strong

global response to the attempt to close this hospice,
both as a matter of concern for the lives of the people
directly affected, and also as a matter of principle.
Under no circumstances should persons living with
HIV/AIDS be made pawns in the political games of
authorities in Burma, or, for that matter, anywhere
else. They should continue to receive the best possible
treatment, and have their own choices about where and
under what circumstances to receive treatment fully
respected. As the United Nations and a variety of
international aid agencies have projects operating in
Burma to address the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the
country, the AHRC calls on these groups especially to
use their contacts with government officials to make
this position plain, and to ensure that the Dagon
Myothit hospice continues to operate into the future.

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BURMA: Unconscionable attempt to oust residents of AIDS hospice 26.11.10 17:28

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is

a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring
and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong
Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Posted on 2010-11-25
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