ART Being Used as a Weapon in Pharmaceutical Violence Against Humankind
Author: Htwin
In July 2025, the Military Council (SAC) issued a directive suspending the distribution of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) medicines by NGOs to people living with HIV (PLHIV). As a result, PLHIV are now forced to travel to designated SAC-controlled stations, navigating complicated paperwork and referral processes to access their medication.
This directive is not merely an administrative order; it is a strategically planned action with a massive impact on the Myanmar healthcare system. It constitutes an inhumane and cruel attempt to seize political control by weaponizing essential healthcare services.
This directive is not merely an administrative order; it is a strategically planned action with a massive impact on the Myanmar healthcare system. It constitutes an inhumane and cruel attempt to seize political control by weaponizing essential healthcare services.
1. Looser’s Narratives
By order of the Military Council, all centers that distribute ART drugs via NGOs must be closed. This forces patients to travel across checkpoints and dangerous roads to reach hospitals controlled by the Military Council, a policy that completely disregards the reality on the ground.
Many parts of the country are no longer under SAC control. For patients in these areas, traveling to SAC controlled regions is impossible due to ongoing roadblocks and the dangers of war. Prior to this order, NGOs risked their own safety to deliver life-saving medications like ART, often working around the Military Council's restrictions to reach communities in need.
Forcing patients to come to them is not about promoting healthcare. It is an act intended to create an unpassable barrier and to punish the people in areas controlled by resistance groups by deliberately cutting off their access to essential health services.
2. The Collapse of a Life-Saving Network
For the vast number of PLHIV, this policy is equivalent to a death sentence. ART suppresses the HIV virus to an undetectable level, enabling people to live healthy lives and preventing transmission. Consistent medication adherence is extremely crucial. Missed doses can rapidly lead to drug resistance, treatment failure, and progression to the AIDS stage.
The Military Council's directive dismantles a critical pillar of public health. Patients who relied primarily on community-based NGOs must now choose between risking their lives to travel to SAC-controlled areas for medicine or slowly dying without it. Compounding this, the majority of PLHIV, who already face intense stigma, will be completely unwilling to register themselves as HIV patients with the Military Council.
3. The Expanding Assault on Public Health
This control extends beyond HIV care. The NGOs targeted by this order also provide crucial treatments for other infectious diseases, such as Tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections. TB is particularly dangerous as it is an airborne disease. A failure in treatment can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant TB strains, causing a highly infectious and extremely severe public health crisis.
The Military Council's policy is actively fueling such crises. They are systematically destroying the fundamental infrastructure that prevents epidemics. By shutting down NGOs, the Military Council is not only harming current patients but is also setting the stage for diseases like HIV and TB to spread uncontrollably among the population in the future.
4. Exploiting Healthcare as a Tool of Warfare
The blockage of essential medicines and health services for the public is a deliberate act of the Military Council weaponizing the health sector. While a legitimate government strives to ensure all its people have access to basic services, the authoritarian Military Council is doing the opposite. Their actions include:
Targeting and attacking healthcare facilities in conflict areas.
Arresting and killing healthcare workers.
Blocking and restricting the public's access to humanitarian aid and healthcare services.
Utilizing community-based healthcare work as a political weapon.
Conclusion
The Military Council's ART directive is not an effort to improve health services; it is a systematically planned strategy for political control, exploiting the vulnerability of the sick. This policy will inevitably continue the collapse of an already fragile public health system.
This article was written by Htwin, a CDM defector from the State Administration Council (SAC) military, and edited by a CDM medical professional.
[This article has been selected, edited, and presented as a feature intended to strengthen the revolution and encourage diverse perspectives and critical engagement among the public. The views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views of the People's Goal. Readers are encouraged to share their comments and participate in the discussion.]