YANGON (AFP) - when Thida Win contracted HIV after selling his body in the streets of Yangon, it was his sex workers classmates that she turned around, step of Myanmar croulant health service.
The high project, run almost entirely by those in the sex trade, gave his treatment, a place to be itself, the double stigma of HIV and prostitution - and ultimately a job.
"I am now a health care worker for my community and I can forget that I'm positive." I am proud to work for programs, I will work for them for all my life, "33-year-old told AFP."
Top of page similar projects are a vital resource in Myanmar dominated by the army, where a chronically underfunded health service, large populations travelling and fuel of bad education one of the worst epidemics of HIV of Asia.
"When I was diagnosed I was pregnant and told me how to find a safe way for the baby." "So that the child is negative and I am so happy," said Thida Win.
Almost one in five approximately 60,000 workers from Myanmar of sex have been infected with HIV in 2008.
A United Nations report August is year last legal constraints said and discrimination make it hard to reach those in trade, which is illegal. Police suggested even condoms used surveys as evidence of arrest.
Top founder and Director Habib Rahman said providing a free place of taboos and allow people to share their problems with his contemporaries is a key objective of the project.
"Even the cleaner comes from the community of sex workers, advisors are also sex workers. It is one of the reasons why I decided to recruit among the community - because there should be any stigma and discrimination, said.
Rahman said that many women enter sex work without knowing the risks.
"In General in Myanmar I do not think that there is any sex education at school," he said.
The project recruited current and former sex workers to help educate others about HIV, spreading the message of a position of trust in the community.
"We cannot tell anyone to stop selling sex, even if they are positive, but what we do is tell them how they can keep in good health and protect the customer by the use of condoms," said Rahman.
He said of the top part-time "peer educators", who chose to continue in the sex trade were encouraged to always use protection, whereas the full-time employees have received training to stop selling sex in total.
Myint Myint contracted HIV shortly after being recruited to work in a house close following the breakdown of his marriage. She said clients, mainly local bean and fish traders, had often been reluctant to use protection.
"I have the violence with customers who do not want to use condoms." It is a big problem. I think that customers are aware of condoms. "They think that they are plastic garbage,", said the top peer educator who continues to sell sex to some of his former clients.
Transmission of HIV in Myanmar produced "mainly by means of high risk sexual contact between sex workers and their clients", and the men who have sex with men and their partners, according to the United Nations report.
It said while injecting drug users have the highest HIV prevalence, at 36%, they are also likely to pay for sex, and "this interaction may repeat the conduct of work of sex epidemic".
Years of neglect by the generals in power - Myanmar passes just to 0.9% of its budget on health in 2007 - have left the country donors easy most of the treatment of HIV in the country.
A new Government, which took power after the November 2010 election controversial, gave rise to the hope of investment more donors overseas - but not the State, which should take approximately 20 per cent of expenditures on the army this year.
In 2009, the UN estimates 240,000 people in Myanmar living with the virus and while there has been improvements, the situation remains worrying, with prevalence rates, the third highest in Asia after the Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
"The epidemic of HIV in Myanmar is on a trend downward and among key population groups, it is also reduce - but it is still quite high, said Soe Naing of UNAIDS in Myanmar."
He said a provision of the State for the treatment of HIV are in the large cities, but of course standards and situations are not ideal. People are reluctant to go to them for the quality and privacy "."
To top clinical provide everything, testing and consultation for routine medical care.
Last year, it has treatment and consultation to 11,770 sex workers and men 10,727. It was also 40% and 82% of all HIV testing for these groups respectively in the country.
The program, which was formed by Population Services International (PSI), seven years employs now 350 people - with 95% of the community of sex workers and men who have sex with men - in 19 cities.
In Myanmar, where U.S. estimates about a third of individuals were below the threshold of poverty in 2007, money worries are likely to continue to drive people in sex work.
Thida Win, which was still a student at the University when it sold first sex, said the financial burden of marriage and children only pushed further in trade.
"I got my degree with sex work, I have supported my family very well with sex work," said the Chemistry graduate, who said its income still help seven members of the family.
