HIV, malaria fight gets $315m boost
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A decision on Wednesday by the international financing organisation the Global Fund to provide US$315 million (Bt9.78 billion) to Myanmar should help the country provide treatment for 85 per cent of its HIV/Aids cases by 2016, officials said. Just over ha
“Myanmar was the only country in the world that was asked to submit proposals on all three diseases,” said UNAids Myanmar representative Eamonn Murphy.
The non-profit Global Fund, founded by Kofi Annan and philanthropist billionaires Bill Gates and Jeffrey Sachs, among others, halted its funding to Myanmar in 2005 when the country was still under military rule and the target of economic sanctions by the West.
With its inadequate health services and infrastructure, and yearsof relative neglect by the aid community, Myanmar faces huge challenges in combating communicable diseases endemic to the region such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/Aids. There are an estimated 200,000 HIV/Aids cases in Myanmar, of whom only 53,000 have access to antiretroviral drugs.
“With this $160 million we can provide antiretroviral drugs to up to 85 per cent of all HIV/Aids cases by 2016,” said Htun Nyunt Oo, spokesman for the National HIV Prevention and Treatment Division. “The funds will be flowing into restricted areas like the Kachin State,” Murphy said.
