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3-D Fund offers Myanmar 5 mln USD for fighting diseases next year
Xinhua General News Service
3 December 2007
The Three-Disease (3-D) Fund will provide Myanmar with 5.7 million U.S.
dollars to fight three diseases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria
in the 2008-09 fiscal year beginning next March, a local news journal
reported Monday.
The 3-D fund will be extended through the World Health Organization (WHO)
which will administer the program under a memorandum of understanding
signed late last month between the 3-D fund and the WHO at the request of
a work coordination body comprising the Myanmar relevant ministries,
United Nations agencies and social organizations, said the Flower News.
The 3-D fund had provided the country with 4 million dollars for use in
2007-08, the initial year of its five-year project to fight the three
diseases.
The entire 3-D fund project, worth about 100 million dollars, was set to
be funded by a group of six donors -- the European Commission, Sweden's
Sida, the Netherlands, United Kingdom's Department for International
Development, Norway and Australia's Aus AID.
The project is being implemented under the guidance of the Work
Coordination Committee led by Myanmar Health Minister Dr. Kyaw Myint.
The 3-D fund was developed in 2006 to compensate for grants which were
suspended in August 2005 by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
According to the latest official figures based on the findings from a
HIV/AIDS projection and impact analysis workshop organization by the
Myanmar government and the World Health Organization in September this
year, the infection rate of HIV in Myanmar declined to 0.67 percent in
2007 from 0.94 percent in 2000.
In the wake of the danger being posed by the three diseases on the public
health, Myanmar has taken steps to control the three disease as a national
duty .
As part of the project for control of AIDS and syphilis, efforts are being
made for giving educative talks on AIDS, for 100- percent use of condoms
in targeted groups in 170 townships in the country and for effective
treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, said the report.
Work is also underway for preventing spread of HIV among those who use
drugs through injection and from mother to foetus at 37 hospitals and 106
townships, while preventing such spread through blood transfusion and
introducing safe blood transfusion.
Besides, 13 strategies on preventive measures and rehabilitation are now
being implemented under five-year national strategic plan (2006-2010)
adopted collectively by the relevant ministries, local non-governmental
organizations, UN agencies and community-based organizations.
In cooperation with foreign organizations in the fight, Myanmar is
actively taking part in implementing the ASEAN HIV/AIDS Control Plan, the
HIV Prevention Plan in Mekong Region countries, and regional and central
level plans of UN agencies.
Moreover, Myanmar is also cooperating with neighboring countries to combat
and control TB and HIV/AIDS under a special plan.
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria are the three major communicable diseases of
national concern designated by Myanmar.
http://english.cri.cn/2906/2007/12/03/1461@300850.htm
