Myanmar introduces project on HIV prevention for migrant workers

YANGON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has introduced a project on HIV prevention for migrant workers moving into the country's two border areas of Tachilek and Muse for livelihood, the local Biweekly Eleven reported in this week's issue.

The project, to be implemented by Myanmar's Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA) with the cooperation of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), directs at young migrant workers including women coming to work at the border areas or crossing border.

Prevention against the spreading of HIV among them and reproductive health education will be covered by the project as an initial phase, the report said.

HIV prevention work through education is urgently needed to be carried out on such migrant groups whose undertakings are posing a high level of danger to the society, the health ministry said, warning that HIV prevalence rate has attained the most critical point especially in the border areas where socio-economic status is complicated.

The authorities has launched education campaign in eastern Shanstate in 2008, the report said, pointing out that the border town of Tachilek stands a main channel for trafficking women and children to Thailand and its nearby areas during the year.

The education campaign on HIV prevention is being extended to Muse in northern Shan state, project official of the MANA was quoted as saying.

With the assistance of UNFPA, measures are being taken to educate those moving across border for their living especially in their entertainment sector, it said.

Moreover, two Myanmar cities in the northern part -- Lashio and Mandalay were found with most HIV-carrying sex workers, according to the health ministry.

Of the 945 sex workers examined during a census conducted for six areas in the country in 2007, 147 were found infected with HIV with those from Lashio accounting for 22.7 percent, Mandalay 22.6 percent, Myitgyina 17.9 percent, Taunggyi 14.4 percent, Yangon 9.6percent and Kengtung 1.2 percent.

The HIV victims, aged from 30 to 34, took 22.8 percent, while those from 25 to 29 represented 18 percent, 20 to 24 17.3 percent, the figures showed.

More figures revealed that a total of 2,190 people, engaged in the sector, were exposed as carrying HIV in 2008.

However, according to a latest report of the UNAIDS, the number of people infected with HIV in Myanmar dropped to 240,000 in 2007 from 300,000 in 2001, thanks to the government's anti-HIV efforts for years.

HIV/AIDS is among the three major communicable diseases of national concern designated by Myanmar. The other two diseases are tuberculosis and malaria.

Myanmar treats the three diseases as priority with the main objectives of reducing the morbidity and mortality in a bid to become no longer a public problem and meet the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations.

Poll: One-third of Americans losing sleep over economy

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- One-third of Americans are losing sleep
over the state of the U.S. economy and other personal financial concerns, a new
poll says.

The poll, released Monday by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), suggests
that inadequate sleep is associated with unhealthy lifestyles and negatively
impacts health and safety.

The number of people reporting sleep problems has increased 13 percent
since 2001. In the past eight years, the number of Americans who sleep less than
six hours a night jumped from 13 percent to 20 percent, and those who reported
sleeping eight hours or more dropped from 38 percent to 28 percent.

"It's easy to understand why so many people are concerned over the economy
and jobs, but sacrificing sleep is the wrong solution," said David Cloud, chief
executive officer of the Washington-based foundation.

"Sleep is essential for productivity and alertness and is a vital sign for
one's overall health," he added.

About 40 percent of Americans agree that sleep is as important as diet and
exercise to overall health and well-being; yet, only 32 percent of Americans who
report sleep problems discuss them with their doctor.

"Getting enough sleep every day is as important to your health as eating
healthy and being physical active," says Woodie Kessel, member of the poll task
force.

A lack of sleep is creating a major public safety problem as well -- drowsy
driving.

The poll found that more than one-half of adults (54 percent) --
potentially 110 million licensed drivers -- have driven when drowsy at least
once in the past year. Nearly one-third of drivers polled (28 percent) say that
they have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving a vehicle.

Two out of every 10 Americans sleep less than six hours a night. People
sleeping too few hours report being too tired to work efficiently, exercise or
eat healthy.

"With the economy worsening, we are seeing patients in our clinic who have
told us that they would not be returning for treatment because they or other
family members have lost their jobs, and they are concerned about costs," said
Meir Kryger, director of research and education at Gaylord Sleep Services in New
Haven.

"These patients may wind up far sicker. Sleep disorders are often
associated with other chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, and they
can add complexity and even accelerate each other if untreated," he said.

U.S. study finds increased prevalence of left-handedness in children with facial development disorder

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A new study by physician
researchers from Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island and Children's
Hospital Boston has identified an increased prevalence in left-handedness
in children with a congenital disorder known as hemifacial
microsomia (HFM).

The study was published in the March 2009 edition of
the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

Overall, ten percent of the population is
left-handed. A higher frequency has been associated with certain craniofacial
malformations such as cleft lip and other conditions.

Albert Oh, director of pediatric plastic and
craniofacial surgery at Hasbro Children's Hospital, along with researchers from
Children's Hospital Boston, developed this study to determine if the frequency
of left-handedness increased in patients with HFM.

HFM is the second most common birth defect after
clefts, and is a condition that affects the development of the lower half of the
face. It most commonly affects the ears, mouth or jaw, and can occur on either
side of the face or both.

A total of 86 patients who were diagnosed with HFM
were studied and compared to a control group using several factors. The study
group was 48 percent male, with an average age of 13.5 years. Of those patients,
49 percent had predominant right side involvement of HFM, while 38 percent had
left side involvement and 13 percent had almost equal involvement on both sides.
The control group included 96 children, 44 percent male with a mean age of 10
years.

When compared to the control group, the study group
showed 26 percent were left-hand dominant for writing compared with only 11
percent in the control group. Also of note, for the patients who had bilateral
involvement of their HFM, the side most affected was uniformly predictive of
hand preference. The patients with left-predominant involvement of HFM were
left-handed and the patients with right-predominant involvement were
right-handed.

Albert Oh, who is also a professor of surgery at the
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says: "This study is
significant in that it revealed a significant shift to left-hand preference in
patients with HFM. This finding further emphasizes that the developmental
abnormality that causes HFM is not isolated to the face."

Oh and the authors also note that the study should
promote further discussion of the two major etiological theories of HFM:
vascular disruption and abnormal proliferation or migration of neural crest
cells (cells located in the neural plate in the embryo that migrate to their
final destinations during embryo development).

The study, while limited in size, found no
correlations between the side of facial involvement and hand preference that
would support the theory of vascular disruption.

Report: Nearly half of Indian women get married before 18

NEW DELHI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half of Indian women get married before reaching the age of 18, said a report by the local newspaper Times of India in its electronic edition Wednesday.

The report quoted a joint Indo-American study as saying in the international medical journal "Lancet" Tuesday that after surveying 22,807 Indian women aged from 20 to 24, the researchers have found that 44.5 percent of them got married before 18.

While India adopted a law banning child marriages in 1929, the "social ill" stays unabated after 80 years, said the report.

The researchers, who are from the Boston University School of Public Health, said economic and educational reforms in India "have failed to lower the prevalence of child marriages, fueling risks of multiple unwanted pregnancies, their termination and sterilization", according to the report.

The research also found that among those women who were surveyed, 22.6 percent got married before 16, while 2.6 percent were married before 13.

Survey: Young Germans prefer Web to spouses

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhuanet) -- A survey shows that
German twenty-somethings can't bear life without Web when asked to choose among
choices of living without their spouses, or Internet access or mobile phones,
according to media reports Tuesday.

In a survey by German broadband association Bitkom,
98 percent people said they found useful information online, and around 84
percent of respondents aged 19-29 said they would rather do without their
current partner or an automobile than forego their connection to the Web.

"People under 30 would rather do without their cars or their current partners
than the Internet or their mobiles," Bitkom president August-Wilhelm Scheer
said.

But he insisted that the Web "creates real
relationships and does not result in autism and dehumanization."

He said one in two people taking part in the survey
admitted they had made new friends thanks to chat forums and Internet
communities. Around 8 percent said they had found a new partner thanks to online
relations.

Nearly a third of respondents said social networking
sites such as Facebook and MySpace and their German equivalents had helped them
expand their circle of friends.

"Our study shows that the Web is not an anonymous
medium that leads to coldness in society," Scheer said.

(Agencies)