We interrupt the series of postings on abstracts presented at the Toronto international AIDS conference to bring you an announcement that the 3D one hundred million dollar grant agreement has been signed.
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Myanmar signs 99.5-million-dollar pact with UN for three-disease fund
DPA
13 October 2006
YANGON - Myanmar (Burma) has signed an agreement with the United Nations to facilitate a European-backed 99.5-million-dollar fund aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria without directly financing the ruling junta, officials said on Friday.
A memorandum of understanding was signed Thursday in Myanmar’s new capital of Nay Pyi Taw, 300 kilometres north of Yangon (Rangoon), between Myanmar Health Minister Kyaw Myint and UN Office for Project Services Director Sunil Bhargava, media reports said.
Under the agreement, the Myanmar government is to cooperate with the Three-Diseases Fund (3-D Fund), which aims to tackle the country’s chronic problems with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria while avoiding the stigma of directly funnelling money to the government - deemed a pariah by Western democracies for its atrocious human-rights record and suppression of democracy. The 3-D Fund would replace many of the projects initiated by another UN-initiated programme, the Global Fund, which decided to pull out of Myanmar last year on the charge that the government was deliberately hindering its humanitarian activities and refusing health officials access to certain parts of the country.
International aid officials based in Yangon claim the decision to pull out was politically motivated by certain donors to the Global Fund, specifically the United States, that were opposed to any form of cooperation with Myanmar’s junta.
The 3-D Fund is chiefly financed by the European Union, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain.
The fund is supposed to act as a ‘neutral body,’ being independent of both the Myanmar government and its donors, with the UN Office for Project Services acting as fund manager.
This week’s agreement reportedly included clauses allowing the fund’s managers full access to all parts of Myanmar, including conflict areas.
‘So far, everything has been accepted by the Burmese side, so we are pleased,’ said Jean-Francois Cautain, head of the political section at the European Union’s delegation in Bangkok, which oversees Myanmar.
The Global Fund’s activities, including supplying anti-viral drugs to about 5,000 HIV cases, was expected to wind up in November, about the same time that the 3-D Fund would start picking up the slack.
The 99.5-million-dollar budget is to be allocated equally toward fighting HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, communicable diseases that pose a threat not only to Myanmar’s population but also to its neighbours.
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New $100 mln fund to fight killer diseases in Myanmar
Aung Hla Tun
Reuters
13 Oct 2006 11:28:09 GMT
YANGON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A new $100 million fund to fight three killer diseases in army-ruled Myanmar should be operational early next year under the supervision of a U.N.-appointed manager, a senior U.N. official said on Friday.
The "3-Diseases Fund" is a five-year programme that aims to plug the gap left by the abrupt departure of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria last year, citing restrictions on their activities.
Health Minister Kyaw Myint signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services on Thursday that paves the way for the appointment of a U.N. project manager and setting up of an office to manage the fund.
"The Global Fund basically finished in August and the sense is that the 3D Fund will probably become operational early next year," Charles Petrie, U.N. country coordinator for Myanmar, told Reuters.
He said bridge funding was in place to keep programmes running until the new fund began operation.
Myanmar's 55 million people suffer some of the highest rates of malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis in Asia, overwhelming the crumbling health care system.
Ruled by the military since 1962, Yangon receives far less Western foreign aid than its regional neighbours due to its poor human rights record and suppression of political opponents.
SAME CURBS
Pro-democracy activists have questioned whether the new fund can work effectively under the same restrictions that forced the Global Fund to withdraw.
The junta announced new rules on foreign aid in February, including travel permits and official escorts for field trips and tighter rules on transporting supplies and materials.
Funds must be deposited in a state-run bank and withdrawn in dollar-denominated foreign exchange certificates (FECs), raising the potential for abuse, activists say.
Petrie said guidelines for the 3D Fund were still being worked out.
"The government has assured us that this is a programme to which they attach high importance. Clearly, if in the future there are problems, one should expect a reaction from the donors," he said.
The new fund -- backed by Australia, Britain and other European governments -- is expected to work with U.N. agencies, international NGOs, charities and local health authorities.
Aid workers have said projects backed by the fund could include promoting condom use to prevent HIV infection, expanded TB testing and drug treatments.
Malaria is the biggest killer of children under five in Myanmar, formerly Burma, claiming 3,000 lives each year and drug-resistant strains are spreading beyond Myanmar's borders.
Tuberculosis causes more than 12,000 deaths a year but more worrying is the rapid growth of drug-resistant TB blamed on poor medical services and sub-standard drugs.
An estimated 360,000 people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and despite expanded prevention and care in recent years, UNAIDS says much more needs to be done.
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New fund created to help Myanmar fight 3 killer diseases
The Associated Press
13 October 2006
YANGON, Myanmar Myanmar will receive US$99.5 million (€79 million) in foreign aid to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the three leading causes of death in the country, replacing funds withdrawn by a U.N.-formed international fund, state-run media reported Friday.
The aid comes from a newly created consortium known as the Three Diseases Fund which, like the U.N.-created Global Fund, aims to provide money directly to non-governmental organizations in Myanmar rather than to the country's military junta.
The aid goes to NGOs because the military government does not give a transparent accounting of its activities, and because donors are under pressure not to be seen as offering any support that could help prop up the junta, which is scorned for human rights violations and it failure to restore democracy.
The consortium is financed by Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Commission, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
A memorandum of understanding was signed Thursday at the new administrative capital of Naypyidaw, 450 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yangon, it said.
The report said the funds are meant to compensate for the loss of a US$98 million (€77 million) grant by the Geneva-based Global Fund to fight these diseases that was suspended in 2005 because of the junta's travel restrictions on aid workers in Myanmar.
According to the latest available statistics, 3,000 people died of malaria in Myanmar last year and an estimated 12,000 succumbed to tuberculosis. More than 300,000 adults — or 1.3 percent of the population — were infected with the HIV virus in 2004, and there are about 25,000 new infections each year.
YANGON, Myanmar Myanmar will receive US$99.5 million (€79 million) in foreign aid to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the three leading causes of death in the country, replacing funds withdrawn by a U.N.-formed international fund, state-run media reported Friday.
The aid comes from a newly created consortium known as the Three Diseases Fund which, like the U.N.-created Global Fund, aims to provide money directly to non-governmental organizations in Myanmar rather than to the country's military junta.
The aid goes to NGOs because the military government does not give a transparent accounting of its activities, and because donors are under pressure not to be seen as offering any support that could help prop up the junta, which is scorned for human rights violations and it failure to restore democracy.
The consortium is financed by Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Commission, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
A memorandum of understanding was signed Thursday at the new administrative capital of Naypyidaw, 450 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yangon, it said.
The report said the funds are meant to compensate for the loss of a US$98 million (€77 million) grant by the Geneva-based Global Fund to fight these diseases that was suspended in 2005 because of the junta's travel restrictions on aid workers in Myanmar.
According to the latest available statistics, 3,000 people died of malaria in Myanmar last year and an estimated 12,000 succumbed to tuberculosis. More than 300,000 adults — or 1.3 percent of the population — were infected with the HIV virus in 2004, and there are about 25,000 new infections each year.
