HIV and Sex Work in Myanmar

Myanmar has one of the largest HIV epidemics in Asia. The first case of HIV was detected in 1988 while the first AIDS case was reported in 1991. HIV prevalence among the general population reached its peak at 0.94% in the year 2000 and was estimated to be 0.61% in 2009. The estimated number of adults and children living with HIV in 2009 was 238,000 (with a range of 160,000 to 320,000).

The HIV epidemic in Myanmar is concentrated in nature, with HIV transmission occurring primarily through high‐risk sexual contact between sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and the sexual partners of these sub‐populations.

According to the findings from the annual HIV sero‐sentinel surveillance (HSS), HIV prevalence among sex workers was higher than 30% from 2000‐2006 (except in 2004), but dropped to 15.6% in 2007 and 18.4% in 2008. This sharp decline as of 2007 might not reflect a true decline in new HIV infections but rather be due to an increased number of sentinel sites and sample sizes. Until 2006 sentinel surveillance, the sample size was around 200 sex workers and sampled only two sites (Yangon and Mandalay).

sex_work_hiv_myanmar[1].pdf