Mark Edington, Head of Grant Management at the Global Fund, praised Myanmar for its “strong capacity, good strategy and national leadership” and said Myanmar’s progress on its new grants was very positive. Maybe Mr Edington is talking about another country named Myanmar.
The press release says the Global Fund is "learning from Myanmar" instead of Myanmar learning from the Global Fund. Doesn't the tone of the last paragraph of this Global Fund News Flash sound like a Stalinist newsmagazine?
Jamie
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Learning from Myanmar
Myanmar’s Minister of Health, Pe Thet Khin, echoed the game-changing nature of the Global Fund’s new funding model. Myanmar is not only participating in the full process of the new funding model, it is also the first country to move forward with grant proposals for HIV, for TB and for malaria, all at once. Minister Pe Thet Khin cited the flexibility and the inclusive dialogue in the new funding model as key elements to improving alignment between Global Fund grants and national health strategies. The new approach coincides with recent political developments in Myanmar that expand the opportunity to reach more people, including minority groups such as the Kachin ethnic group, who were not previously able to participate.
Challenges remain, such as the risk of transmission by an influx of internally displaced persons, lack of human resources, hard-to-reach areas and funding gaps. “With the ceasefires, a lot of people are coming back to the country. Peace is of paramount importance," Minister Pe Thet Khin said, adding his country needs mosquito nets and medicines to contain the risk of internally displaced persons spreading diseases. He also said he wanted to improve health care at the country’s borders. Myanmar has a high disease burden for the three diseases, including resistant forms of TB and malaria. An estimated 206,000 people are living with HIV in Myanmar, one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in Asia. More than 23,000 people die from TB every year. Minister Pe Thet Khin added a personal dimension to his commitment. Long before becoming Myanmar’s Minister of Health, he had already experienced first-hand the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria in his country. “I was a victim of malaria myself and at my small clinic I treated patients with HIV and TB,” said Minister Pe Thet Khin, a pediatrician by training. “I am personally involved in the three diseases.” Minister Pe Thet Khin said that Myanmar’s commitment to increasing its funding, together with Global Fund-supported programs, will raise anti-retroviral coverage to 85 percent of those affected.
Mark Edington, Head of Grant Management at the Global Fund, praised Myanmar for its “strong capacity, good strategy and national leadership” and said Myanmar’s progress on its new grants was very positive. In addition to its new grants for the three diseases, Myanmar will also be eligible for the Mekong Artemisinin-Resistance Initiative, a region-wide initiative funded by the Global Fund to tackle the emergence of artemisinin-resistance in Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Thailand and Myanmar. The five countries are moving forward rapidly to apply for regional funding, which is expected to be made available in early 2014. Edington said that by investing in a regional initiative, the Global Fund hopes to become a catalyst for other potential donors to join in the fight against the spread of resistant forms of malaria.
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8a32f13900b342bdc0291e17c&id=cdde072fd1&e=c89393026b
