Maybe I'm missing something here. Will someone explain it to me.
Last month MSF said more funding is needed. Now the UN repeats that more funding is needed. This is not news and there is hardly a story at all. Blanketing the mass media with repeated information that more money (or medications) is needed may not be the most strategic way to get more funding.
If these 'stories' are to have an impact, where does MSF or the UN think that the funding will come from? Certainly not from the UN as the UN is broke. Certainly not from the Global Fund as they will not fund until Round 11A or Round 12 late next year. The Global Fund Round 9 grant renewal this summer may be subject to a budget reduction of 25%.
From other bilaterals? The Three Diseases Fund could get a bit more money, but then who would apportion prevention and treatment funds? New bilaterals? Does anyone really want a lot of USAID money? It could come, but is likely to roll out later than Global Fund resources.
Who are all these MSF and UN inspired pieces directed to?
[him] moderator
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Call for HIV Funding in Burma
VOA
2012-05-22
A U.N. delegation warns of setbacks to treatment and prevention if programs aren't supported.
The U.N. warned Tuesday that progress in the treatment and reduction of HIV/AIDS cases in Burma could be reversed if increased funding and other resources for programs to fight the deadly disease in the country are not found.
U.N. officials on a visit to Burma this week noted that HIV infection rates in Burma have begun to drop and that growing numbers of infected Burmese are receiving treatment, but warned that two-thirds of people living with HIV in the country remain untreated, and that financial support for treatment and prevention programs is expected to decline.
“If additional resources are not made available for, and within, Myanmar, even the gains of the past years will be lost, and the badly needed scale-up of services will not happen,” UNAIDS Director and delegation member Steven Kraus said, according to a statement by the Office of the U.N. Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
As of last year, an estimated 216,000 people were believed to be living with HIV in the formerly military-ruled country, also called Myanmar, according to data provided by the U.N.
Burmese opposition leader and member of parliament Aung San Suu Kyi shared her concern at the prospect of reduced funding and noted the importance of community-based efforts to prevent HIV and to care for those infected.
To be effective, she added, programs must be sustained and well-managed.
“All the work needs to be closely monitored to assure accountability,” she said.
Tightening budgets
Last November, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international public-private scheme to combat the three diseases, said that it would not hand out any more funds for scaling up AIDS treatments until 2014 because of tightening budgets in donor countries.
U.N. Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific Dr. Nafis Sadik said investment on AIDS in Burma needs to “increase dramatically” from international sources to assist those who are living with HIV and to prevent more people from becoming infected.
“Increased government budget allocation to AIDS work is also needed,” she noted at the conclusion of a week-long official visit at the head of a high-level U.N. delegation.
“Furthermore, laws, policies, and programmes that block access to services for people living with and most affected by HIV need to be revised and removed,” she said.
“Only this will enable the provision of effective and sustainable prevention and treatment services,” she added.
Burma’s vice president Dr. Sai Mauk Kham pledged continued official commitment to addressing HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, as “prominent public health problems” in the country, according to the statement.
“[Burma’s] government is working in close collaboration with the UN, non-governmental organizations, local freelance philanthropic organizations and civil society in its response to HIV.”
Last Thursday, in a gesture acknowledging the beginning of political reforms in Burma, the United States announced an easing of investment and financial restrictions, but said it will maintain wider sanctions amid ongoing concerns over human rights abuses and ethnic conflict.
The two countries also announced they will exchange ambassadors to reflect the improvement in bilateral relations.
Reported by Richard Finney.
www.rfa.org/english/news/burma/funding-05222012143318.html
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More resources needed to fight AIDS in Burma
Mizzima News
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 13:18
A high-level United Nations delegation has called for an urgent and rapid increase in resources for AIDS programmes in Burma, after a week of meetings with government officials and people affected by AIDS/HIV.
Investment to treat AIDS patients in Burma needs to increase dramatically to assist those who are living with HIV and to prevent more people becoming infected, said the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Dr. Nafis Sadik.
At the same time, increased governmental budget allocation to AIDS work is also needed, she said.
She advised the government to revise and remove all laws, policies and programmes that block access to services for people living with and most affected by HIV, said U.N. officials.
During the seven-day visit, the U.N. team met with Vice President Sai Mauk Kham; Minister of Health Pe Thet Khin; Minister of Labour, Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement, Aung Kyi; Attorney-General, Dr. Tun Shin; Dr. Kyaw Myint, chair of Pyithu Hluttaw Committee on Health Promotion and Maung Maung Swe, chair of Pyithu Hluttaw Committee on Population and Social Development.
The group also met with Aung San Suu Kyi and with people living with HIV.
Vice President Sai Mauk Kham underlined the government’s commitment to addressing HIV in the country. He said HIV, TB and malaria are prominent public health problems in Burma, and the government is working in close collaboration with the U.N., nongovernmental organizations, local freelance philanthropic organizations and civil society in its response to the HIV issue.
Suu Kyi expressed her concern about reduced funding for treatment and prevention and stressed the importance of a sustained, well-managed response to AIDS in Burma. She also highlighted the importance of openness and compassion in government and in the community, as well as the role of community organization in the provision of AIDS prevention and care programmes.
The U.N. delegation noted that Burma has made progress in its national AIDS response despite limited resources. HIV prevalence among all key populations has begun to decline and the number of people receiving anti-retroviral treatment has grown substantially. However, the delegation also noted with concern that two-thirds of people living with HIV do not have access to life-saving treatment, and available financial resources for AIDS in the country are expected to decline this year.
If additional resources are not made available, the gains of the past years will be lost, and the badly needed scale-up of services will not happen, said UNAIDS Director Steve Kraus.
Increased partnership; increased impact
During her visit, Sadik spoke at the inauguration of the Business Community Charter on AIDS, which seeks to mobilize the business sector to actively participate in the national AIDS response. The nature of the HIV epidemic requires that all sectors contribute to the response, and this includes business and media, said Sadik.
Sadik said the delegation had a number of constructive discussions with Members of Parliament. Necessary review of laws, policies and practices that block access to services for people living with HIV and people from key communities at risk were highlighted as key areas for lawmakers to focus on.
She stressed that people living with HIV and communities most affected by HIV need to be involved at the heart of all efforts: in the planning, design and implementation of AIDS programmes.
People living with and affected by HIV know better than anyone else what works and how to get the best impact, and they are ready and willing to work in close collaboration with government and other partners to ensure the greatest results, said Myo Thant Aung, chair of the Myanmar Positive Group, the national network for people living with HIV in Burma.
As of 2011, there were an estimated 216,000 people living with HIV in Burma. According to the 2011 HIV Sentinel Surveillance data, HIV prevalence among female sex workers was 9.4 per cent, among people who inject drugs 21.9 per cent, among men who have sex with men 7.8 per cent, and among pregnant women attending antenatal care services 0.9 per cent. More than 40,000 adults and children receive antiretroviral treatment, but it is estimated that over 120,000 people are in need of treatment.
For more information, contact Dr. Sun Gang, UNAIDS country coordinator, at sung@unaids.org
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/7169-more-resources-needed-to-fight-aids-in-burma.html
