Myanmar’s regime is forcibly recruiting people with HIV and tuberculosis in Mandalay, according to health workers.
Junta troops and officials have forcibly taken people from their homes since mid-August in Mandalay, abducting one man suffering from multidrug-resistant TB in Chanmyathazi Township and two men with HIV from Chanayethazan Township.
An activist fighting TB said: “He is not only suffering from drug-resistant TB but also has liver problems. They said he would be released soon.
“He said he was on medication but they forcibly took him, saying he was on the conscription list. His family showed his medical records but they still have him.”
Sources said junta personnel demanded 3 million kyats (around US$600) for his release, which the family could not afford.
The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm the reports.
The activist said: “His family is poor. He is on medication and can’t work. Our office provides 100,000 kyats a month for him. He is infectious.”
A health worker said TB suffers need two years of medication, including six months of daily injections.
“Their families need to take extra care because it is contagious. The medication has serious side effects,” the medic said.
The two men with HIV reportedly only had a month of medicine.
A relative said: “My cousin has been on antiretroviral medication for more than five years. They forcibly took him after we showed them evidence. He looks healthy as he regularly takes the medicine. He is 29. We are asking for his release. I am afraid that he is at a training camp.”
A doctor, who joined the civil disobedience movement, said TB can be contagious and is fatal without systematic treatment.
“HIV patients need to take antiretrovirals for the rest of their lives and stopping can be fatal,” he said.
The Conscription Law exempts those deemed unfit by medical screening, civil servants, high school and university students, only children taking care of parents, those on drug rehabilitation and inmates.
U Thein Htay, the junta’s Mandalay Region spokesman, denied the conscription of HIV and TB sufferers.
Myanmar is in the world’s top 30 countries for TB infections and HIV combined with TB. The World Health Organization estimated that there have been 308 cases of TB in every 100,000 people per year since the 2021 coup with at least 33 TB-related deaths.
Myanmar’s civilian authorities estimated that more than 240,000 people were living with HIV in 2020. The situation has reportedly worsened since the coup.
HIV patients struggle to secure antiretroviral medication.
