One of the wealthier countries in Southeast Asia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), squanders funds on showpiece projects chosen by its reigning military junta, in power since 1962.
The latest example of not investing in beneficial projects was last May, when Cyclone Nargis impoverished 2.5 million Myanmar people, left 1 million homeless and 130,000 dead. The disaster received virtually no attention for a month from a government bent on denying the cyclone's gravity and refusing outside emergency aid.
Myanmar's legal balance of trade exceeds $3 billion annually from natural gas, teak, gemstones and jade - plus uncalculated major illegal revenue from methamphetamine and opium/heroin. Regime spending priorities include buying about $2.5 billion in arms from neighboring China and building a new capital, Naypyidaw, 250 miles north of Yangon (Rangoon), at a cost of $4 billion.
Nonexistent funding for legitimate projects contrasts with egregious personal spending for maximum leader Gen. Than Shwe, who hosted a lavish wedding for his daughter Thandar that netted an estimated $50 million in gifts.
Meanwhile, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the Asian Development Bank estimate just 10 percent of the country's 50 million to 55 million citizens are literate. The United Nations and WHO peg Myanmar government medical expenditures at 37 cents per capita, unimaginable in a relatively wealthy country. Recovery and rebuilding from Cyclone Nargis proceed slowly, with international aid groups struggling to act efficiently and donor governments loath to provide funds to an uninterested, corrupt regime.
Perhaps most appalling is the government's inattention to Myanmar's HIV/AIDS epidemic. International health experts estimate 250,000 to 500,000 Myanmar are infected, with 75,000 to 125,000 able to lead normal lifestyles and survive 15 to 20 years if treated with anti-retroviral medications. Neighboring China, with a population of 1.2 billion, has about 700,000 HIV-positive or AIDS-diagnosed citizens and is actively combating the disease.
The Yangon-based journal Weekly Eleven News has reported Health Ministry statistics indicating a 15 percent HIV-positive rate among sex workers.
Just 16,000 Myanmar receive treatment, about 12,000 by a Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF-H) program and 2,500 by other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The government cares for just 1,800 infected patients and does not cooperate with NGOs.
In 2008, at least two Buddhist monasteries were harassed and one was closed for providing care to HIV/AIDS sufferers, with more than 100 caregivers jailed or forced into exile.
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