This appears to be the first public intimation about the new humanitarian fund for the three communicable diseases in Myanmar.

European Donors in Discussions To Provide Funding for Programs Suspended by the Global Fund in Myanmar
25 January 2006

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=34974

      A group that includes the European Commission, Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden is planning to replace funding that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was providing in Myanmar, unnamed diplomats said on Tuesday, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 1/24). The Global Fund in August 2005 announced a suspension of its grants to Myanmar, citing travel and other restrictions implemented by the country's government that impede the delivery of medical supplies and services. The fund in 2004 pledged to spend $98 million over five years to fight the three diseases in the country. ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian aid department, last month pledged about $18 million in funding aimed at helping vulnerable populations in Myanmar and refugees living along the country's border with Thailand (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/3). The European diplomats said the new donor group held talks on Jan. 19 with the Myanmarese government about providing funding to fight the diseases, and they also have had talks with the opposition political party in the country, as well as not-for-profit groups, according to AFP/Yahoo! News. The donor group wants to create a new system for funding health programs that uses procedures, created by the Global Fund, that aim to prevent funding from supporting the country's military-led government and allow health care workers to travel freely throughout Myanmar, according to AFP/Yahoo! News. A U.N. official on Tuesday said the U.N. Development Programme has secured funding so that Global Fund programs in the country can continue until July in an effort to "allo[w] a smooth handover when the new donors take over," AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 1/24).

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European donors plan to restore AIDS help to Myanmar: diplomats
AFP
24 January 2006

Yangon: A group of European-led donors plans to replace funding worth
millions of dollars that Myanmar will lose from the withdrawal of the
UN-created Global Fund to fight disease, diplomats said Tuesday.

"There is an urgent need to make sure that the programs in place (to fight
the diseases) do not end," a European diplomat told AFP.

"A process is underway, and it will require political decisions, but we
have high hopes as this project does not conflict with the EU Common
Position" on Myanmar, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of ongoing talks on the issue.

The EU has suspended most of its aid to military-ruled Myanmar as part of
sanctions to try to force democratic reforms, but it makes exceptions for
projects to improve health for the country's poorest people.

The Global Fund announced its pullout of the country in August after
earlier agreeing to give 98.5 million dollars over five years to battle
AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis -- diseases that are prevalent in Myanmar.

The Global Fund says it is leaving because of restrictions imposed by the
junta, but diplomats say it also faced significant pressure from a handful
of influential US lawmakers who oppose any compromise with the regime.

A UN official said banning programs to fight the three diseases is a
"death sentence" for many people in Myanmar.

The new donor group initially includes the European Commission, Australia,
Britain, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, but other countries could
join, the diplomats said.

The group has already held talks on the proposal with the Myanmar
government, the political opposition and civic groups, they said.

Myanmar suffers one of the worst AIDS epidemics in Asia, posing a threat
to the region as it spreads, according to the United Nations. Some 31
percent of prostitutes have HIV, while nearly 38 percent of injecting drug
users have the virus, UN estimates show.

The country also has one of the world's highest caseloads of tuberculosis,
with 97,000 new cases detected each year, while malaria is the nation's
leading cause of illness and death.

The donors want to create an alternative system for funding health
programs, while sticking to the safeguards established by the Global Fund
to ensure the money does not directly support the military regime and that
aid workers are free to travel the country.

Like the Global Fund money, the new program would give priority to local
authorities and release new funding based on the results achieved in the
projects, the diplomats said.

When the Geneva-based Fund announced its pullout, it blamed the junta's
restrictions on the movement of aid workers and limits on imports of
medical supplies.

But diplomats here said the withdrawal was equally due to a US political
lobby backed by key lawmakers which wants to push for regime change rather
than compromise with the generals.

The UN Development Program (UNDP), which manages the Global Fund's money
in Myanmar, has secured stop-gap funding so that the existing programs can
continue working until July.

The hope is for a smooth handover when the new donors take over that
month, the UN official said on condition of anonymity.

The donors met Myanmar officials on January 19 to discuss the project,
diplomats who attended the meeting said. The European Commission plans to
send a group of experts next month as they prepare the new scheme.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962 and is the target of
western sanctions aimed at pressing for democratic reform and the release
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The United States has taken a hard line against dealing with the regime,
but other nations in Europe are now pushing for humanitarian initiatives
to ease the plight of Myanmar's people.