US embassy cable - 04RANGOON1519

UNCLAS RANGOON 001519 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BANGKOK USAID/RDM ASIA FOR MATTHEW FRIEDMAN; STATE FOR EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, SOCI, KHIV, APER, BM 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY RANGOON CONDUCTS HIV/AIDS TRAINING FOR ALL 
MISSION PERSONNEL 
 
REF: 03 BANGKOK 4203 
 
1.  Summary.  Embassy Rangoon has completed HIV/AIDS 
awareness training for all current mission staff in 
accordance with the Department of State's HIV/AIDS workplace 
policy and a Plan of Action established at the July 2003 
HIV/AIDS Chiefs of Mission Conference in Bangkok, at which 
COMs committed to "conducting HIV/AIDS awareness training for 
every person under our authority." (reftel)  Training 
seminars ran throughout 2004, with the entire staff 
(including all agencies, direct- and local-hire personnel, 
and FSNs) attending mandatory sessions that covered topics 
such as HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, treatment, 
societal impact, and overcoming negative perceptions and 
stigma associated with this disease.  The training was an 
overall success and also significantly contributed to the 
knowledge of Embassy personnel in combating HIV/AIDS in 
Burma, where an estimated 1.9 % of the population is infected 
with the HIV virus.  End Summary. 
 
2.  Embassy Rangoon, in conjunction with a local NGO, held 
eighteen classes of 20 employees each between April 30 and 
September 20, providing HIV/AIDS training for all Embassy 
workgroups and sections.  The three-hour, interactive 
seminars (at a reasonable cost to the mission of roughly 
$9.00 per person) were given in both English and Burmese, 
with 278 Locally Employed Staff (LES) and approximately 47 
American personnel attending the training sessions in mixed 
groups.  The courses taught participants about transmission, 
prevention, and treatment through multimedia presentations, 
games, open question-and-answer sessions, and activities that 
tested knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues. 
 
The Myanmar Business Coalition on AIDS 
 
3.  The Myanmar Business Coalition on AIDS (MBCA), a local 
NGO that specializes in providing workplace HIV/AIDS training 
to businesses and large organizations, conducted the classes 
for the U.S. mission.  Founded in 2000, MBCA has been funded 
by AusAID, the Fund for HIV/AIDS in Myanmar (FHAM), and many 
local businesses.  The organization's stated mission is to 
bring corporate resources to assist in HIV/AIDS prevention 
and to promote nondiscrimination policies and education 
programs in the workplace.  MBCA staff is comprised of local 
doctors and health educators that make "house calls," 
bringing their demonstrations and classes into the workplace. 
 
Feedback from Staff 
 
4.  The feedback from our local staff was overwhelmingly 
positive.  One key impact of the training was a broadly 
expressed intent of employees to share the information 
learned with family and friends.  Several LES employees also 
commented on the lack of sex education in the Burmese school 
system, compounded by parental reluctance to discuss sexual 
issues with children.  For some employees, the Embassy 
HIV/AIDS training was the only sex education they had ever 
received.  Several LES asked about holding follow-up classes 
and discussion groups.  One staff member commented that 
although Burmese media had changed considerably in the past 
decade, presenting a more western approach to sex and 
male-female relations, there was no practical information on 
sexual health readily available to the general population. 
 
5.  The post health unit staff also attended a session to 
observe the training techniques of MBCA, and our post 
physician opined that from a medical standpoint the sessions 
were well conducted, significantly raising HIV/AIDS awareness 
in our embassy community.  American staff members also 
expressed a positive view of the training and, even though 
many felt they were already knowledgeable on HIV/AIDS issues, 
concluded that the sessions served as a good refresher. 
 
6.  Comment: As follow-up steps, Embassy Rangoon is 
considering holding advanced training sessions and running 
future classes on a regular basis in order to provide 
training for new embassy staff and for eligible family 
members and household employees.  End Comment. 
MARTINEZ