Aung San Suu Kyi Visits HIV Patients
- 14 years ago
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Newly released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits a hospice for HIV sufferers. She is appealing to the public for basic needs.
Newly-freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited an HIV hospice in a Yangon suburb on Wednesday.
According to UN figures, an estimated 270,000 Burmese are HIV-positive and most who need treatment are not receiving it.
Anti-retroviral drugs cost between 30 and 40 U.S. dollars per month, which is beyond the means of ordinary Burmese people.
An average monthly salary in Burma is 50 U.S. Dollars.
Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, has established a camp for HIV victims, housing 70 patients.
During her visit to the camp, Suu Kyi offered encouragement and appealed for public support.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Pro-democracy Leader]:
"We need money for drugs, we need money for food, we need money for more housing. So I'd be very, very grateful if you could do something about that."
Patients were very moved by Suu Kyi's visit.
[HIV Patient]:
"I want to cry because I'm so happy today."
Facing sanctions and widely derided for its decades of military junta rule, Burma receives little aid from the international community.
Donors give less per head to Burma than any other poor country in the world.
Newly released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits a hospice for HIV sufferers. She is appealing to the public for basic needs.
Newly-freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited an HIV hospice in a Yangon suburb on Wednesday.
According to UN figures, an estimated 270,000 Burmese are HIV-positive and most who need treatment are not receiving it.
Anti-retroviral drugs cost between 30 and 40 U.S. dollars per month, which is beyond the means of ordinary Burmese people.
An average monthly salary in Burma is 50 U.S. Dollars.
Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, has established a camp for HIV victims, housing 70 patients.
During her visit to the camp, Suu Kyi offered encouragement and appealed for public support.
[Aung San Suu Kyi, Pro-democracy Leader]:
"We need money for drugs, we need money for food, we need money for more housing. So I'd be very, very grateful if you could do something about that."
Patients were very moved by Suu Kyi's visit.
[HIV Patient]:
"I want to cry because I'm so happy today."
Facing sanctions and widely derided for its decades of military junta rule, Burma receives little aid from the international community.
Donors give less per head to Burma than any other poor country in the world.