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FUDGING FIGURES

FUDGING FIGURES The Mynmar government is falsifying statistics on AIDS cases to cover the fact that the disease has reached epidemic levels, alleges a us expert on AIDS. Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, says that 3.46 per cent of adults in Mynmar are infected with HIV. This percentage, if true, makes Mynmar the second-worst affected country in Southeast Asia. UN experts on AIDS support Beyrer's allegations. U naidS , the coordinating body for the disease within the organisation, estimates that around 48,000 people in Mynmar died of AIDS in 1999, but the government figures show only 802 deaths.

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