Mr Hamburger or the journalist appears to have forgotten a donation from that group of islands lying off the shore of Europe known as the UK.
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EU funds disease fight
Thet Khaing
Myanmar Times
AN International health assistance project aimed at fighting three major communicable diseases in Myanmar will be launched in September with partial funding from the European Union, a senior EU official told The Myanmar Times.
Mr Friedrich Hamburger, the Bangkok-based EU ambassador to Myanmar, said the Three Disease Fund will help fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis with funding mainly from the EU and the governments of Australia, Netherlands and Sweden.
He said the donors have pledged to provide a total of 20 to 25 million euro (US$25 to$31 million) each year for the three-year project, including 5 million euro ($6.3 million) annually from the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU.
He was speaking in Yangon on July 26, the second day of a two-day visit to Myanmar, which included a courtesy call on Prime Minister General Soe Win as well as meetings with Health Minister Dr Kyaw Myint and Chief Justice U Aung Toe in Nay Pyi Taw on the first day.
Mr Hamburger said funding for the project will be provided through the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which will also manage the project from its regional base in Bangkok.
He said a memorandum of understanding setting out the protocols of the project will be signed between the government and UNOPS before the project is launched.
Mr Hamburger said the new project would serve as a successor to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “We will work very closely with local communities, including local representative who have a good understanding of the heath situation”, he said.
“I am confident that it can work, under certain conditions and with necessary safeguards, with assistance reaching the people who are in need,” he said.
Mr Hamburger said the funding scheme could be extended beyond the original three-year period depending on the success of its implementation and the availability of funding.
Although the EU has maintained sanctions against Myanmar since the mid-1990s, it has continued to provide humanitarian assistance for the country, including a pledge of 30 to 35 million euro ($38 to $44.4 million) last year.
A senior official at the Ministry of Health, Dr Tin Nyunt, told The Myanmar Times on July 26 that he was optimistic that the Three Disease Fund could be implemented by September.
“Negotiations on this project are advancing positively,” Dr Tin Nyunt said. He said the new funding would ensure that the work started by the Global Fund would continue without interruption.
