Author: Saving Lives
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It’s been a busy week in many ways. However, underpinning every activity is preparing for the ever-present humidity of over 90% and the occasional dump of what seems like half the Indian ocean in a couple of hours. Now, this is where the umbrella performs its second important function, which is to protect its handler…
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Much as I was getting into the swing of blogging, a trip home gave me a legitimate excuse not to put fingers to keyboard: reading about my life-enhancing experiences with a first world existence of Cornish holiday treats with the family would not quicken the pulse of many. As an antidote to this Hedonistic home…
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Not exactly a Tour-de-France peloton, but the number and permutations of the one-gear bikes, with rickshaws, side-cars, and front and back carriers, is one of the features of Yangon. The helmeted Lycra-clad version we see bombing around the streets of urban UK would not withstand the obstacles here. The roads require nothing less than the…
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There are several joys of getting older in medicine. First there are more stories to tell the ever-rotating batches of juniors, usually relating either to hours on call, which are prefixed with ‘When I was an SHO’ or to cases seen when it’s ‘I remember a patient with’. Then there’s the freedom to care less…
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You soon learn there are hidden dangers for us western folk in super-hot Yangon. First, you never text while moving. If on the pavement, you’re likely to disappear 4 feet down into the mosquito larva encrusted sewerage system because there is the occasional missing paving stone; veering slightly off course onto the road means a…
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So week 4 is nearly underway. Of course, anyone reading this may think I’m off my trolley working in such a challenging environment at such an advanced age when I should be sipping a mature Chateauneuf du Pape, doing the Times crossword (which I can’t do anyway), and thinking about what time the cricket starts…
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Let me tell you about MAM now, the organisation I’m responsible to. They could sort out the NHS with their energy and imagination. The picture above shows you where the current clinics are and there are new clinics for IVDU and in areas in Myanmar where limited or no services are available being built/developed and…
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So, my ‘go-to’ place where there is air-conditioning is the famous Myanmar Plaza. That’s where the internet access is and you can even get a flat-white. For a bit of ‘back-home’ if needed this is the place to be. Back to the clinic and an important topic, food! All the clinic staff eat enormous amounts…
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In a bus station sweating profusely, drinking excellent Myanmar beer having survived the first week, eaten every local street food that looks edible and suffered the consequences and now about to start on a 10-hour overnight bus journey to Bagan, home of the temples (picture). Now I have been and worked in many places but…
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I recently attended AVAC’s HIV prevention science and advocacy training for Px-ROAR European advocates in Paris (12-13 June). AVAC are committed to global advocacy for HIV prevention. Their mission is to Deliver proven interventions for immediate impacts; Demonstrate and rollout new HIV prevention tools and to Develop long term solutions to the epidemic. AVAC has…