01 December 2009
Drug user Myint Naing is clear on what the Black Sheep group has done for him.
“I have taken responsibility as the secretary of the Black Sheep to be able to have a good way of life for myself and my friends.
“I am under methadone maintenance treatment and have stopped being a victim of drug use.
“I have made my commitment to try continuously to do my best to beat drugs.”
Named after the odd one out, the Black Sheep Peer Support Group was set up in 2006 in Burma’s northern state of Shan.
It aims to support drug users in their efforts to get clean, stay away from drugs and tackle the spectre of HIV.
The group works to beat the rejection felt by the group’s 50 or so members from their own families.
It offers weekly meetings, hospital referrals for round-the-clock treatment, microfinance to help members set up their own businesses, and help in finding basic jobs.
The scale of drug use and HIV in Burma is sobering.
Forty-three per cent of the country’s estimated 75,000 injecting drug users are HIV positive.
In 2008, the Three Diseases Fund, which is supported by DFID, contributed over US$2 million to six organisations, providing between 20,000 and 30,000 injecting drug users with prevention activities such as the Black Sheep support group.
By June this year, the fund had sold and distributed 3.6 million clean needles and had seen close to 10,000 people living with HIV participate in self-help groups for counselling, referral and psychosocial support.
Facts and stats
- DFID provided £12.5 million to Burma in 2008/09 and is providing £25 million in 2009/10, which is set to rise to £28 million in 2010/11.
- DFID is providing £10 million to the Three Diseases Fund, bringing DFID's total contribution to the Fund to £30.1 million by 2011.
- Burma has one of the highest rates of HIV in south east Asia and is one of the 22 high burden countries for TB. Mallaria is the leading cause of death and morbidity.