United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

East Asia and Pacific

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		Project Code and Sector Project Background and Justification Immediate Objective, Outputs and Main Activities Counterpart, Institutional Setting and Implementing Arrangements

MYA/03/H75- HIV/AIDS Prevention for Police Force in Myanmar

1. Project Code and Sector

2. Project Background and Justification

The spread of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar in the last two decades has made the Police Force particularly susceptible to contracting the disease. The elevated risk of HIV infection within the Police Force can be attributed to factors such as primary age group, a professional ethos that excuses or even encourages risk taking, personnel often stationed in high risk areas, such as at national borders and who are highly mobile and spend a lot of time away from their home and families. In Myanmar, the Police Force is extensively in contact with the general public and its members are very influential in society. This contact and influence extends to management of sex workers (SW), injecting drug users (IDU) and other groups with high HIV risk behaviour. Given that police personnel have potential for high risk behaviour themselves and their potential positive influence on society, interventions within the police force have multiple purposes and benefit both the individual and the society.

The aim of the H75 project is to increase the awareness of HIV/AIDS and STI among police personnel and their families. In addition, it seeks to incorporate HIV/AIDS and STI lessons into the existing curriculum of training schools for police personnel. Educators and counsellors are also trained so that the education programme will continue in the Myanmar Police Force when the project is completed.

Intervention within the police force focuses on the prevention of HIV/AIDS with regards to the individual serviceman as well as their impact on the people they interface with while on duty. Myanmar police are leading the way in the region in accepting that a comprehensive package of services should be provided for IDUs including pilot methadone and safer practices, and be implemented soon in selected regions. Now is a good time to be encouraging and to help strengthening these efforts. An intervention focusing on new recruits in the police force will ensure that those at the highest vulnerability and risk are being targeted, and will help to ensure that the future leaders of the police force in Myanmar are educated on and aware of HIV/AIDS. This will also contribute to enhancing a multi-sectoral response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to developing and maintaining an enabling environment for HIV/AIDS prevention.

3. Immediate Objective, Outputs and Main Activities

Objective: To improve the knowledge on HIV/AIDS prevention among the police personnel and their families, especially new recruits so that they are able to protect themselves and continue the HIV/AIDS education activities by themselves.

Output 1: Improved knowledge and awareness on HIV/AIDS among new police recruits and reported safer behaviour.

Output 2: Improved knowledge and awareness on HIV/AIDS among police personnel stationed in the border areas and reported safer behaviours.

Output 3: Positive attitudes towards harm reduction and application of the positive attitudes in their police work particularly in dealing with groups with high risk behaviours.

Output 4: Sustained HIV/AIDS education and prevention activities in Myanmar Police Force.

Activities: Activities included continuing with the establishment of training networks for both formal and informal education sessions that included refresher trainings focusing on HIV/AIDS for the police personnel. This project was implemented in police training institute and border areas that include using educators from the military medical corps.

4. Counterpart, Institutional Setting and Implementing Arrangements

This project was funded by UNAIDS and successfully implemented in close coordination and partnership between Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs, UNODC and CARE international. The objective is to increase the awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention among the police personnel and their families.

The project was implemented at the Zeepingyi Central Police Training Institute, Myanmar Police Force, Anti-Narcotic Task Force, Medical Corps and families of Lashio, Pyin Oo Lwin and Kyaington Townships.