Reaching the unreached in Myanmar

By Ko Si Thu Aung / Drugreporter

The film is directed by Ko Si Thu Aung, who shot the film in the extremely remote Township Mawlaik. Situated at the Chindwin River near the Indian border, the township is known for its spectacular views, running through deep jungles and lofty mountains, as well as for its lumber mills, and close proximity to coal and gold mines, and hydro power plants.

Myanmar is confronted with a unique HIV, HCV, TB, and drug use syndemic in most remote, hard-to-reach mining, border, and conflict areas. Drug use in Myanmar is closely related to subsistence day labor (in rural areas) and drug-using migrant workers in logging, gold, ruby, and jade mines. Most clients of the Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN), people who use or inject drugs, and sex workers are in the lowest economic strata, experiencing endemic poverty coupled with the socio-economic consequences of drug use. The intense markers of marginalisation are key drivers of the challenge of reaching these people, complicating prevention, impacting health seeking behaviour, obstructing enrolment into treatment and care, as well as compliance and adherence, compounded by contextual barriers such as proximity to clinics and travel costs, among others.