AHF Senior Vice President Peter Reis, Asia Bureau Chief Dr. Chhim Saarath and Deputy Asia Bureau Chief Dr. Bao Yugang attended the opening ceremony of a new community testing center in Yangon, Myanmar on March 29. AHF Myanmar will operate the new center in collaboration with Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Myanmar Highway Freight Transport Services Association, a local community-based organization.
At the opening event, a panel consisting of both AHF representatives and local partners delivered remarks and answered questions from attendees. Peter Reis, Dr. Saarath, and the Chairman of Bayint Naung Wholesale Market Development and Supervision Committee then inaugurated the new testing center with an official ribbon cutting.
The center is located at the largest highway truck compound in Yangon, targeting highway truck drivers and workers at a relatively higher risk of HIV infection. The center will raise HIV awareness, provide peer counselor training, offer testing and counseling services, and refer HIV-positive clients to AHF’s ART center. The center will also provide testing and treatment for other sexually transmitted infections apart from HIV.