Breaking Down ‘Wall of Silence’ on HIV and Safe Sex in Burma

Nearly one in three sex workers in Burma were living with HIV in 2005, according to a UNAIDS report from 2006. The ruling junta’s National AIDS Program also admitted that in 2005, HIV prevalence among 15- to 24-year-olds was 2.2 percent. Only in 2002 did the junta admit the existence of the epidemic in Burma.

Swe Zin Htaik (Photo: Myanmar Times)

Question: How many condoms have PSI already distributed in Burma since 1996?
 
Answer: PSI started distributing its own brand of condom [Aphaw] in 1996. That year, we distributed 2.6 million condoms. By 2005, the number of condoms distributed in the commercial, public and PSI social marketing sectors reached 42.8 million.

Q: Could you please explain these sectors briefly?

A: The commercial sector, in fact, has existed for years as a market of “hidden sales.” According to our social marketing strategy, we encourage the existing market to develop for the benefit of society. If condoms can be obtained for free, people might misuse them, throw them away or sell them to others. As a result, their importance can be devalued by the general public. That’s why PSI imports condoms and distributes them at a special “subsidized rate” in the market. We named our product “Aphaw” and used Burmese language on the packaging. But after 2000, we changed the packaging to English because we were worried that people wouldn’t value our product if it was made in Burma. We have often created new package designs to grab our customers’ attention.

Q: During more than a decade of condom distribution and HIV/AIDS awareness education in Burma, what social constraints have had an impact on your work?

A: As an actress known to many people, I have had many constraints. When I started a communications component in the PSI program in 1999, I had to talk about condom use and sex education. People looked at me and my works with curiosity. The government watched what I was doing and saying. The Ministry of Health perceived me as just an actress with no health training. Even my family told me not to do such a work, which they considered shameful. Nevertheless as a campaigner, I have continued my campaign despite encountering such social and cultural constraints. I have tried to push open the closed doors on this issue, and the doors have gradually begun to open. The communication campaign struggled under a “denial stage” until 2000. My first HIV series, called “Travelers of Happiness,” encountered a very disgusting reaction. Only after Burma signed an agreement to start HIV/AIDS education and prevention at the Asean meeting in 2002 could we gradually proceed with our communications campaign.

Q: What other obstacles did you experience at the grassroots level as you started launching your communications campaign?

A: We use three types of media: interpersonal communication, print media and broadcasting. It was too difficult to do before 2000. We couldn’t talk about HIV/AIDS education through the state-owned television. Therefore, we approached the state radio and launched a radio series on HIV/AIDS education. After we had launched four series, we received a letter from a Buddhist monk complaining that it was not appropriate to broadcast about HIV and sex education through the state media. After that, we had to drop our program. That is the cultural constraint I experienced.