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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 30,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Quacks in India's northeast hindering
early detection of HIV
Channel NewsAsia - ASEAN youth camp aims to
build understanding and friendship
Reuters - Australia Looks to Cheaper AIDS Drugs
for Asia
PD - China to Help Myanmar, Laos Dredge Mekong
River
Bkk Post - Talks urged on factory
The Nation - NSC chief
hits out at camp exiles
NSTP - Getting factories to form safety
committees to reduce accidents
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday June 29, 1:54 PM Quacks in India's northeast
hindering early detection of HIV
GUWAHATI, June 29 (AFP) - Quack doctors in India's remote northeastern region are preventing the early detection of the HIV virus in infected patients, AIDS workers said Friday. "A majority of sex workers and truckers who have sexually transmitted
diseases (STD) approach quack doctors or fake herbal specialists for treatment
rather than coming to professional health workers," said S.I. Ahmed, chairman of
the AIDS Prevention Society, a community body in Assam state.
"The mushrooming of quacks has become a challenge and a major stumbling
block in our fight against AIDS," Ahmed told AFP.
At least 50,000 people in the seven northeastern states of India are
HIV-positive, according to official figures.
The states border the heroin-producing "Golden Triangle" of Thailand, Laos,
and Myanmar, and according to health workers at least 25,000 people contracted
HIV through needle sharing by intravenous drug users.
An estimated 200 people have died of AIDS in the northeast during the past
five-years.
Health workers said an increase in prostitution in the region has
heightened fears that the disease will spread even faster, especially among
truck drivers.
"Most of the truck drivers suffering from STD, are shy of visiting a doctor
and the quack takes advantage of the client through his polished eloquence and
tall claims," Chiranjeeb Kakoty, a leading AIDS counsellor in Guwahati,
said.
"In the long run, medicines prescribed by the quacks do not work and the
infection gets complicated, even fatal."
Dhan Singh, a health worker in Manipur's provincial capital Imphal, said:
"At our highway health camps, we make it a point to tell the truck drivers not
to be lured by quacks and to visit trained doctors for treatment."
Experts also stressed the need to educate sex workers, following surveys
that suggested most prostitutes in the region were having unprotected sex.
A recent health ministry report admitted that as many as 3.5 million
Indians were HIV positive, although unofficial estimates put the figure at
closer to five million.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Channel NewsAsia
Saturday June 30, 6:20 PM
ASEAN youth camp aims to build
understanding and friendship
Singapore hosted a two-week camp for ASEAN youths to help build understanding and friendship among them. The 2nd ASEAN Student Exchange Programme saw 51 youths, aged between 14 and 16, from nine ASEAN countries taking part. Organised by the Ministry of Education, the programme was initiated at last
November's ASEAN Informal Summit.
Prisca Trisendy, who lives in Jakarta, has been to Singapore seven times,
but never for a youth camp.
Her new friend Hafizah is looking forward to hosting Prisca at her home
next weekend.
Nur Hafizah, a Singapore participant, said: "We are going to celebrate her
birthday at my house together with my family and my brothers. It is just a small
celebration among us."
With teamwork, no obstacle is too big for these youths.
And for some, it is their first time taking part in such
confidence-building activities.
The camp hopes to build understanding and friendship among ASEAN
youths.
And Singapore is set to host more training for her ASEAN neighbours.
Dr Aline Wong, Senior Minister of State for Education, said: "From July
this year, up to 60 teachers and trainers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and
Vietnam will come to Singapore annually for attachments with educational
institutions here, where they will observe teaching practices and develop
teaching curriculum."
As for these youths, besides being at school together, they will also visit
Singapore sights and look forward to a memorable time.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday June 29 2:22 PM ET
Australia Looks to Cheaper AIDS Drugs for Asia CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia
said on Friday it was negotiating with Australian-based drug companies to give
developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region much cheaper access to AIDS
medication.
A spokesman for Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said the negotiations
could lead to the annual cost of treating HIV and AIDS patients in countries
such as Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji being cut to about A$500 (US$250)
from the current A$10,000.
``We'd look to have that finalised towards the end of the year,'' the
spokesman told Reuters, saying the talks were still going on.
Wooldridge's spokesman confirmed an Australian newspaper report that the
Minister hoped to ``firm up'' a deal with Australian-based drug
manufacturers--including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Merck
Sharp & Dohme, Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim--when he returned to Australia
from this week's special United Nations AIDS conference in New York.
A regional UN conference said in April Asia risked an AIDS epidemic of
African proportions unless it prevented the spread of the disease while
transmission rates were still low.
The Australian initiative was welcomed by senior health official Rob
Moodie, who is helping to coordinate policy on combatting AIDS in the region,
although he warned the lower price would still be too high for many
people.
``If this ambitious plan is put into action it will save lives, no doubt
about it,'' Moodie said in a statement.
``However A$500 a year is still an astronomical figure for hundreds of
millions of people throughout our region.''
Moodie is co-chairman of the sixth international congress on AIDS in Asia
and the Pacific, which is to meet in Melbourne in October.
ASIA RISKS AFRICAN-SCALE EPIDEMIC
The Australian plan follows a landmark case in April in South Africa when
nearly 40 international drug firms dropped a court challenge over South African
government plans to import cheap AIDS drugs. About 4.7 million, or one in nine,
South Africans are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Health bodies estimate about 6.4 million of Asia's 3 billion people are
infected with HIV.
The UN AIDS programme said South Asia was ``already a hotbed of infection''
with the fastest growth in the number of HIV-infected people outside sub-Saharan
Africa, with India, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand identified as having
disturbingly high levels of infection.
The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday quoted Wooldridge as saying Asia could
become ``the world epicentre of HIV.''
His spokesman said the government would not be looking at providing
subsidies or tax breaks to the drug manufacturers to encourage lower prices for
the developing nations.
``No, we'd be looking to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for
them to reduce their prices,'' he said.
Australia last year launched a A$200 million, six-year programme to help
combat the spread of HIV and AIDS, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region, by
funding prevention projects in countries including Indonesia and Papua New
Guinea.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The People's Daily
Friday, June 29, 2001, updated at 08:14(GMT+8)
China to Help Myanmar, Laos Dredge Mekong River The Chinese government will invest more than 42 million yuan (5.06 million
U.S. dollars) to help Myanmar and Laos dredge a navigation section on the Mekong
River, sources with the Yunnan Provincial Navigation Administration said.
The 331-kilometer-long section to be dredged runs from the No. 243
demarcation stone between China and Myanmar to Houayxay in Laos. The project is
expected to start in December this year after approval by the governments of
China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, according to sources.
The section to be dredged, a border river between Myanmar and Laos, is part
of the Lancang-Mekong River course which opened to commercial navigation in
China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand Tuesday. Shipping vehicles now can navigate
unrestricted on the waterway from Simao Port in Yunnan Province, southwest
China, to Louang Prabang Port in Laos with a total length of 886 kilometers.
Experts from the four countries have carried out a series of on- the-spot
investigations at the Myanmar-Laos border river and the river course is expected
to allow passage of 100-ton ships all the year round upon completion of the
dredging project, said Liu Daqing, a leading technician in charge of the
project.
By 2007, 300-ton ships are expected to pass through the section even in dry
seasons with further improvement to the course of the river in the coming years.
Currently, the annual navigation capacity of the Lancang-Mekong River is 4
million tons and it is expected to reach 10 million tons by 2007.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 30,
2001.
Talks urged on factory
Wassana Nanuam The supreme commander urged the government to open talks with Rangoon over
the lignite-fuelled power plant in Tachilek, opposite Mae Sai.
Gen Sampao Chusri said the government should find out if the plant would
cause pollution and how Burma intended to cope with the problem.
Residents were up in arms over the project, prompting concerns the protest
would sour relations with Rangoon.
Gen Sampao said security authorities were concerned about growing
opposition to the project and called on local officials to calm the
villagers.
He said the military could not stop Burma from transporting construction
materials over the border.
Meanwhile, army spokesman Col Somkuan Saengpattaranet said the army chief
ordered border units not to support insurgent groups in their anti-Rangoon
activities.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - June 30,
2001.
NSC chief hits out at camp exiles
National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Kachadpai Burusapatana
yesterday lashed out at exiled Burmese students who oppose the planned closure
of Maneeloy holding centre, saying they had ulterior motives to use Thailand for
subversive activities.
"It is ludicrous to assert that these exiled students should stay on at
Maneeloy until Burma achieves full democracy," he said. "Those who oppose the
pending closure of the holding centre are worrying about their future because
they have failed to verify their status as exiled students."
Kachadpai said only 400 exiled Burmese students remained at the "temporary"
shelter, pending relocation to a third country. Most - 350 of them - had already
been accepted for resettlement abroad, he said, and the remaining students
should complete the resettlement process by the end of the year.
The government, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees, will close the centre this year, he said.The NSC secretary-general
said opponents of the centre's closure might use their student status as a
pretext to continue activities targeting Burma. These But "activists" had been
residing at Maneeloy without any official sanction, and they had repeatedly
refused to register as students or for resettlement, he said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Norachit Singhasenee said the pending closure of
the Maneeloy centre was a policy pursued by successive governments and not a
sudden agreement reached during Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to
Burma.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press - June 29,
3001.
JERANTUT
Getting factories to form safety committees to reduce accidents by Azran Aziz The Human Resources Ministry will get factories to form the special
committee on safety and health to reduce accidents at work place.
Its Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said the setting up would be done in
stages, beginning with high risk factories and those employing high number of
workers.
He said statistics had shown that accidents in the manufacturing sector
were about three times more than the plantation and agriculture sectors.
"The cases have been attributed to negligence and low safety standard," he
said, adding that the existence of the committee would help increase safety and
health awareness among employers and employees.
Speaking after presenting excellent service awards to workers of Teramaju
Sdn Bhd here, he said the ministry with co-operation from the Health Ministry
would direct employers to organise safety courses for their workers.
"They must also supervise and conduct inspection on facilities at their
factories from time to time," he said.
In another development, he said the ministry would launch a long-term
programme to reduce dependency on foreign factory workers.
"At present, we have many factory workers from countries such as Indonesia,
Myanmar and Bangladesh," he said.
Fong said skills training would be introduced for locals and that employers
would be asked to hire local workers.
"Employers will also be asked to switch to new technology to improve
productivity and reduce workers," he said.
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