YANGON (UCAN) -- Catholics caring for people with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar have met recently to learn more about each other and to share their experiences.

The group of about 25 Catholics came together for a workshop on "Sharing about Caring, HIV/AIDS Ministries," held Dec. 7-9 at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar headquarters in Yangon.

They work in NGOs such as Karuna, the social service agency of the Catholic Church in Myanmar, as well as Save the Children, World Vision and World Concern. A nun and two laymen developed the seminar idea in September, and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development supported the plan.

Participants made presentations on the challenges they face in caring for HIV/AIDS patients and on how they look after and support the patients, as well as organize awareness training and network with other organizations.

The workshop included discussions about young people, sex education and HIV/AIDS, and participants offered ideas on how to help religious leaders understand the issue and why Catholics find it harder than others to admit they have HIV/AIDS. They also explored the possibility of the Catholic Church providing shelters for people living with HIV/AIDS in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns. At present, Myanmar has no Church-run AIDS hospices.

Edward Nyein from Karuna in Pyay diocese told UCA News, "We are challenged because patients are afraid to be known by other people, and they inform us only when their condition gets bad." A stigma relating HIV/AIDS with prostitution is attached to those infected, he pointed out.

"I am very angry when people call me the head of sex workers," Nyein said, referring to his support for prostitutes through the auspices of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, an international NGO. "I simply feel compassion for sex workers when I work with and help them," he said.

Nyein said he became motivated to help such people after meeting with a sex worker who had been evicted from a brothel because she had AIDS. "I met with her and she told me about her life. The next day, she passed away. That saddened me deeply. They are human beings and I respect them," Nyein said.

Doctor Bo Bo Aung from Mandalay archdiocese told UCA News he has been helping such people since July. "We now have 16 patients, including some children," the 25-year-old doctor said. "Our main challenge is people are unaware of HIV/AIDS and Catholics are afraid to admit they have the disease."

Theresa Hnin Su Wai of Mawlamyine diocese told UCA News her care center Myitta Kyaemone (mirror of charity) helps HIV/AIDS-afflicted people by supporting their medical treatment, their children's education and funerals, and with income-generating schemes such as rearing pigs and chickens. "At first, I was reluctant to help them, but now we are like a family," Wai said.

Apparition Sister Bernadette Nem Za Cing from Hakha diocese told UCA News her clinic at the convent is ill-equipped to care for or feed the HIV/AIDS patients who come to it and some most likely will soon die.

She recalled two young boys who went to the clinic suffering from diarrhea and a persistent fever. When their blood was tested, they showed up as HIV-positive. "I cried and felt very sorry for them," the nun said.

The 2007 report of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says, "Myanmar has one of the most serious HIV epidemics in Southeast Asia," though there are indications the problem may be diminishing due to a more active government response. Among Myanmar's estimated 50 million people, the report says, about 360,000 people are living with HIV, including 110,000 females older than 14. The report estimates 37,000 deaths due to AIDS to date.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) usually leads to AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome. HIV is spread primarily through intimate sexual contact, needle sharing among intravenous drug users, transfusions of contaminated blood or transmission to a fetus or newborn from a pregnant or lactating mother. AIDS results when the damaged immune system cannot ward off disease.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)