Myanmar has one of the highest rates of HIV/Aids in Asia. An estimated 240,000 people are infected with the virus, and about 20,000 die from the disease every year. The percentage of GDP that Myanmar's government spends on health care is the lowest in the world. Only about 3% of patients receive antiretroviral therapy.

Intravenous drug users and sex workers are most at risk of becoming infected in Myanmar. There are few needle exchange programmes, and addicts and prostitutes are dealt with severely by the regime, making them reluctant to seek treatment. An anecdotal study found that nearly half of sex workers in Yangon have HIV.

Unsafe medical practices such as the reuse of needles and insufficient blood screening are also a major source of infection.

To mark World Aids Day, photographers Soe Zeya Tun and Lauren DeCicca visited a private HIV hospice set up by Phyu Phyu Thin, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party.