Ni Ni Tun: HIV among key populations in Myanmar

My name is Ni Ni Tun. My background is a HIV medical doctor, and my research is about looking for HIV prevention and treatment strategies among vulnerable populations living in Myanmar. In Myanmar, HIV is highly concentrated among key populations. I call it a key population, which means a certain group of population has high HIV, which are sex workers, MSM, transgenders, and then people who inject drugs. And they have not only higher HIV incidence, but they are also facing stigma, discrimination, and they are socially excluded. So, my area is to find out a way to improve access to care among those populations.

Currently I'm working on pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV infection among female sex workers and MSM (men who have sex with men) and transgender women. PrEP, the abbreviation is called PrEP. That drug is evidence-based, it’s very good but people have to take it. So, in order to take the pill and to have access, it is important to understand, are people able to take it, or what are their challenges, and that is the main area of my research. I want to know what are their issues in order to take the pill, then I want to improve the strategy.

The big issue in my research is high-risk behaviour. HIV high-risk behaviour, many of these vulnerable populations, they are using more and more drugs. So, drug use and high-risk sexual behaviour, that is important to be addressed. And the second one is about mental health, because drug use and mental health they are linked to each other. So, we have also to find out how are we going to support mental health, especially during this conflict and crisis situation. And the last one (but not the least) is to prevent young teenagers to become addicted to drugs. How are we going to do it? These are the main questions in my agenda.

I actually am trying to focus on populations who are vulnerable and socially excluded. Normally they don't have a voice, they have no say. So, in my research I’m trying to find out a strategy to improve access to health care for those populations. I will also on the other hand advocate for those people to be seen, and their voices are to be heard, and they will no longer be neglected in the community. So that is my aim.

I really think my research is very important and impactful because we must scale up HIV prevention and treatment services among those vulnerable populations, especially during the current crisis with HIV high-risk behaviour and mental health. So those are the areas that we need to address, and I'm sure by doing that we will save tens of thousands of lives.

This video was recorded in September 2025.