Optimizing HIV Services for Key Populations in Public-Sector Clinics in Myanmar.

Key populations, ie, female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people in prisons and other closed settings, experience stigma, discrimination, and structural barriers when accessing HIV prevention and care. Public health facilities in Myanmar became increasingly involved in HIV service delivery, leading to an urgent need for healthcare workers to provide client-centred, key population-friendly services. Between July 2017-June 2018, the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports and National AIDS Programme collaborated with ICAP at Columbia University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement a quasi-experimental, multicomponent intervention including healthcare worker sensitization training with pre- and post- knowledge assessments, healthcare worker and client satisfaction surveys, and structural changes.

Cross-sectional study on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) and violations of tobacco sale regulations in Myanmar: do these factors affect current tobacco use among Myanmar high school students?

Objectives: To examine the associations of current tobacco use with tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS), and illicit tobacco sales exposures among Myanmar high school students.

Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional study.

Setting: Seven high schools from both urban and rural areas of four states and regions in Myanmar.

Initiation of antiretroviral therapy or antiretroviral prophylaxis in pregnant women living with HIV registered in five townships of Mandalay, Myanmar: A cross sectional study.

Background: A series of interventions are required to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) starting from HIV testing of pregnant women, initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) or antiretroviral prophylaxis to HIV-positive pregnant women to providing HIV prophylaxis to newborn babies. Gaps in each step can significantly affect the effectiveness of PMTCT interventions. We aimed to determine the gap in initiation of ART/antiretroviral prophylaxis for pregnant women living with HIV, delay in initiation of ART/antiretroviral prophylaxis and factors associated with the delay.

Consumption of foods containing prohibited artificial colors among middle-school children in Nay Pyi Taw union territory, Myanmar.

Background: Food safety control in Myanmar is regulated by the Department of Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA conducts food safety education programs in schools and regular market surveys of foods containing prohibited artificial colors. However, the consumption of foods containing FDA-prohibited artificial colors among school children is understudied.

Factors associated with concurrent sexual partnerships among men who have sex with men in Yangon, Myanmar.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are considered to be one of the groups most at risk of contracting HIV. However, to date, information regarding MSM's sexual behaviors and the risk factors for their concurrent sexual partnerships (CSP) have not been known in Myanmar. This study aimed to identify factors associated with CSP among MSM.

Myanmar language version of the Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale.

Reduced cognitive function among the elderly is an important issue not only in developed countries, but also in developing countries. As a test to measure cognitive function, the Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R) has been used in Asian countries including Japan, Korea, and China. Since there was no HDS-R version in Myanmar language, a questionnaire and manual for the HDS-R were developed.

Survival rate and mortality risk factors among TB-HIV co-infected patients at an HIV-specialist hospital in Myanmar: A 12-year retrospective follow-up study.

Background: Myanmar is listed as one of the countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis and HIV infections (TB-HIV) in the world. However, the survival rate and risk factors for mortality among TB-HIV co-infected patients in the country remain unstudied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine these factors.

Assessing the operational costs of routine immunization activities at the sub-center level in Myanmar: What matters for increasing national immunization coverage?

Background: Myanmar's national immunization program was launched in 1978. Routine immunization is mainly provided at sub-center level with midwives assigned as main vaccinators. The vaccinators at the sub-centers have to obtain vaccines from their designated township health department's cold room for immunization services.

Are death and loss to follow-up still high in people living with HIV on ART after national scale-up and earlier treatment initiation? A large cohort study in government hospital-based setting, Myanmar: 2013-2016.

Setting: Myanmar National AIDS Program has had significant scale-up of services and changes in CD4 eligibility criterion for ART initiation from 2013 to 2016. This study assessed early death within 6 months and attrition (death and loss to follow-up, LTFU) after ART initiation and their associated factors.

Design: A retrospective cohort study on people living with HIV (PLHIV >15 year of age) enrolled at three specialist hospitals in Yangon from 1st June 2013 to 30th June 2016.