New Life client Cho Mar*. (Lwin Phyu Phyu Kyaw/CPI)
Community organization New Life helps people living with HIV (PLHIV) in rural villages in Myanmar (Burma)’s Mandalay Region. We talk to an HIV-positive client, a peer educator and New Life’s co-founder about their experiences during Myanmar’s crisis.
World AIDS Day: Meet the People Sustaining Lifesaving HIV Services During Myanmar’s Crisis11/28/2022
Aung Nu Pan, an outreach worker with the Asian Harm Reduction Network in Myanmar. (AHRN/CPI)
For people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Myanmar (Burma), the February 2021 coup and ensuing turmoil are endangering the health services they rely on for survival. We speak to community health workers supported by the USAID HIV/TB Agency, Information and Services (AIS) Activity providing a lifeline to PLHIV during this crisis.
 Raju, a Sexual and Reproductive Health Volunteer supported by Community Partners International in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh, helps Rohingya women and girls to access health and hygiene services. (Jennifer de Perise/CPI) Raju, 51, lives in Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. She works as a Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) volunteer supported by Community Partners International (CPI) and local partner Green Hill helping Rohingya refugee women and girls to access essential health services. To mark International Women’s Day, Raju spoke to Community Partners International about her work and community, and the health and hygiene challenges faced by women and girls.
 Anam Ali, CPI's Country Director in Bangladesh, cuts the ribbon at the opening ceremony for the new health post supported by CPI in Camp 1W of Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Md. Dipu/CPI) Moments after the health post’s doors opened for the very first time on Thursday, December 2, 2021, eight-year-old Omme came in with her father Abul. She was suffering from abdominal pain and fever. The doctor on duty saw Omme immediately and provided care. “Everyone is helpful here,” remarked Abul. “The doctor listened carefully and gave my daughter medicine. I am happy.”
 Construction underway on the new CPI-Green Hill health post in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (CPI) In late August, Community Partners International (CPI) and local partner Green Hill broke ground on a new health post in Camp 1W of Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Scheduled to open by the end of October, the health post will offer free primary health care services to Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities in the surrounding area.
 Ayesha with her newborn baby girl in Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (CPI) Ayesha and Jannat are Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sheltering in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. They fled violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State in 2017 with their families, walking for many days to reach the Bangladesh border. Today, they live in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp. Both receive assistance from networks of Rohingya community health and water, sanitation and hygiene volunteers supported by Community Partners International (CPI). Here are their stories.
 Dr. Htun Nyunt Oo, NAP Program Manager, inaugurates MAM's PrEP clinic in Hlaingtharya. (CPI) On July 31st, 2020, HIV healthcare providers and other key stakeholders gathered at an event in Yangon to inaugurate Myanmar’s first HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) clinics. This marks a major milestone for Myanmar’s strategic response to HIV, and will contribute to the scaling up of HIV prevention efforts.
An Epidemic Within a Pandemic: Safeguarding Myanmar's Newborns From Hepatitis B During COVID-197/27/2020
 Khin Aye and her newborn son who are participating in CPI's Stop Hep B @ Birth Project in South Dagon, Myanmar. Photo: Community Partners International "We have a real opportunity here to push back hepatitis B. With the right approach, we can free a generation of children in Myanmar from this debilitating and deadly virus.” Seven years ago, Khin Aye went for a routine prenatal check-up while pregnant with her first child. The hospital staff conducted a blood test. “When the test came back, they told me I had hepatitis B.”
 Thiri devotes her life to helping others in her community living with HIV. Photo: Chit Su Wai Aung for Community Partners International Thiri, 37, found out that she was HIV positive during a routine checkup while pregnant in 2013. She was afraid and alone. “I was so scared that others would find out that I had HIV so I didn’t leave the house for a long time. I couldn’t tell my parents.”
 In Myanmar, violence against women and girls is a silent emergency. It takes many forms: domestic and intimate partner violence perpetrated within families; unwanted touching and sexual harassment on public transport; and violence occurring in conflict zones where women are particularly vulnerable. In a national survey carried out in 2015 and 2016, one in seven women in Myanmar reported that they had experienced violence since the age of 15.[1] The real number is likely to be many more.
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