Here is a note on the launch of the MSF report at ANU. What mechanism is MSF suggesting for the emergency donor funding? Is MSF convening an emergency conference? Who are they suggesting does?
[him] moderator
++++++++++++++++++
Funds needed to stop Myanmar's rising tide of HIV and TB
ANU
14 Mar 2012
Urgent funding from international donors is needed to help stem the growing HIV and Tuberculosis epidemic in Myanmar, according to a new report launched at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.
The report, Lives in the Balance, is produced by the international medical NGO Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF), the largest provider of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for HIV in Myanmar. It outlines the impact that a lack of access to treatment will have on people affected by HIV and TB in Myanmar today.
Speaking at the report launch MSF’s Myanmar Medical Coordinator Dr Khin Nyein Chan said that Myanmar had some of the lowest coverage rates for ART in the world.
“Over the last few years between 15,000 to 20,000 people living with HIV die annually in Myanmar, because of lack of access to urgent lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy,” she said. “An estimated 120,000 living with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar are in need of lifesaving ART. However, according to national estimates in 2010, less than 30,000 of these patients received it.
“On top to this, TB prevalence in Myanmar is almost three times the global average and Myanmar is among 27 countries with the highest drug-resistant TB rates in the world. By 2011, more than 300 patients suffering from drug-resistant TB were started on ART. But, this remains far short of what is needed.
“The gap between the need for and access to ART to help treat HIV and TB in Myanmar is huge. Each day, MSF is faced with overwhelming numbers of patients and our doctors must make tough choices about who they can and cannot treat. It is difficult to say no to a patient but we have to do that every day.”
In 2011, after a five-year absence, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and AIDS restarted in Burma. The MSF report says that the allocated money was crucial to laying the foundations for Myanmar’s fight against HIV and TB. However the Global Fund, which is the only substantial source of funding at an international level, has cancelled Myanmar’s next round of funding.
Regional Coordinator for MSF, Ms Gina Bark said that the loss of anticipated funds is a tremendous blow to Myanmar, the least developed country in Southeast Asia and one of the lowest recipients of official development aid in the world.
“Expected funds from the Global Fund’s round 11 would have paid for an additional 46,500 patients being added to ART. But, the cancellation of this round of funding means that there will be no new funding opportunities to expand treatment for HIV or TB in Myanmar,” she said.
“By providing much needed funding international donors can help ensure that the planned increase in HIV and TB treatment by the Myanmar government still goes ahead.
“MSF is calling for urgent funding and assistance from the international community to help Myanmar close the devastating gap between people’s need and access to treatment for HIV and TB.
“MSF is not calling on extra funding for itself, as we have reached our maximum capacity in what we can do on the ground. However, we are calling for funding from the international community for other actors and for the Myanmar government.
“This is now a defining moment for Myanmar and tens of thousands of lives are hanging in the balance. For those people, the decisions of donors mean life or death.”
Listen to an overview and panel discussion on the report at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific podcasts page.
For more information:
James Giggacher, Asia Pacific editor, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
T +61 2 6125 1165 M +61 413 665 143 E james.giggacher@anu.edu.au
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/news/story/funds-needed-to-stop-myanmars-rising-tide-of-hiv-and-tb
