"Decades of repressive military rule, civil war, corruption, bad governance, isolation, and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have rendered Burma?s health care system incapable of responding effectively to endemic and emerging infectious diseases. Burma?s major infectious diseases—malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis (TB)—are severe health problems in many areas of the country. Malaria is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality due to infectious disease in Burma. Eighty-nine percent of the estimated population of 52 million lived in malarial risk areas in 1994, with about 80 percent of reported infections due to Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous form of the disease. Burma has one of the highest TB rates in the world, with nearly 97,000 new cases detected each year.4 Drug resistance to both TB and malaria is rising, as is the broad availability of counterfeit antimalarial drugs. In June 2007, a TB clinic operated by Médecins Sans Frontières?France in the Thai border town of Mae Sot reported it had confirmed two cases of extensively drugresistant TB in Burmese migrants who had previously received treatment in Burma. Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS, once contained to high-risk groups in Burma, has spread to the general population, which is defined as a prevalence of 1 percent among reproductive-age adults.5 Meanwhile, the Burmese government spends less than 3 percent of national expenditures on health, while the military, with a standing army of over 400,000 troops, consumes 40 percent.6 By comparison, many of Burma?s neighbors spend considerably more on health: Thailand (6.1%7), China (5.6 %8), India (6.1%9), Laos (3.2%10), Bangladesh (3.4%11), and Cambodia (12%12).....The report recommends that: • The Burmese government develop a national health care system in which care is distributed effectively, equitably, and transparently. • The Burmese government increase its spending on health and education to confront the country?s long-standing health problems, especially the rise of drug-resistant malaria and tuberculosis. • The Burmese government rescind guidelines issued last year by the country?s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development because these guidelines have restricted such organizations as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from providing relief in Burma. • The Burmese government allow ICRC to resume visits to prisoners without the requirement that ICRC doctors be accompanied by members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association or other organizations. • The Burmese government take immediate steps to halt the internal conflict and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in eastern Burma that are creating an unprecedented number of internally displaced persons and facilitating the spread of infectious diseases in the region. • Foreign aid organizations and donors monitor and evaluate how aid to combat infectious diseases in Burma is affecting domestic expenditures on health and education. • Relevant national and local government agencies, United Nations agencies, NGOs establish a regional narcotics working group which would assess drug trends in the region and monitor the impact of poppy eradication programs on farming communities. • UN agencies, national and local governments, and international and local NGOs cooperate closely to facilitate greater information-sharing and collaboration among agencies and organizations working to lessen the burden of infectious diseases in Burma and its border regions. These institutions must develop a regional response to the growing problem of counterfeit antimalarial drugs."