Here is an example of lack of transparency on the part of a major donor. The Asian Development Bank is giving ten million dollars to the HIV response in Myanmar and it is impossible to figure out how the money is going to be spent.
There are two Eleven Myanmar articles below. Since both of them are unintelligible, you can goto the ADB website for clarification: http://www.adb.org/projects/46490-001/main . But there is nothing there that explains the project.
If the ADB recognises that HIV is concentrated among "concentrated among injection drug users, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men", why would they fund a project to provide health services in 739 villages in five townships in Mon, Kayin, and Shan along transport routes? Does ADB think truckers spread TB and malaria?
Something is not right here.
Jamie
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ADB, Japan to provide US $10 million for healthcare services in Myanmar
Eleven Myanmar
Published on Tuesday, 24 December 2013 18:21
YANGON—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a strategic link between the Myanmar government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) currently providing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services, according to a bank official.
“As Myanmar continues implementing social and political reforms, it must protect its people from inadvertent exposure to communicable diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, malaria,” said Gerard Servais, a health specialist in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department.
“Non-governmental groups have done an excellent job filling gaps in treatment and prevention services, but it’s time to both expand and strengthen these services to reach more people and provide more preventative measures.”
ADB will use a US$10 million (Ks 9.85 billion) grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to deliver better healthcare services for 739 villages in five townships in Mon, Kayin, and Shan states. The project aims to strengthen the provision of healthcare in remote, vulnerable, and hard-to-reach populations in the Southeast Asian country.
“It is projected that by 2017, communities will see strengthened health systems that can plan for and manage responses to HIV/AIDS and STIs, with the number of trained health service providers increasing by 30 percent, the number of patient consultations increasing by 80 percent and behavior change campaigns to help reduce exposure to HIV, STIs, tuberculosis, and malaria,” the bank said in a statement.
An estimated 240,000 people in Myanmar are thought to be living with HIV, which classifies the country as “high burden.” A 2012 survey by the National AIDS Programme shows infections concentrated among injection drug users, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men. Among them, only 40,000 adults and children receive anti-retroviral treatment (ART), presenting a significant treatment gap.
International NGOs, alongside local NGOs and community-based organizations, provide the bulk of HIV services in the country, including prevention services, drop-in centers, clinics, and outreach programs. NGOs also support private sector provision of sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment and distribute condoms and lubricants. In 2011, 70 percent of ART was delivered by NGOs at clinics outside the public system, according to a bank survey.
Based in Manila, ADB aims to reduce poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, the bank has 67 members, 48 of them from the Asia Pacific region.
People living with HIV/AIDS will be provided access to antiretroviral drugs by next year, Dr. Sit Naing from Marie Stopes International said earlier this month. The project will combat immunodeficiency and gonorrhea and the Health Ministry will build more antiretroviral clinic centres, extending the availability of drugs to 85 percent of patients by 2016.
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/national/4547-adb-japan-to-provide-us-10-million-for-healthcare-services-in-myanmar
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Myanmar expand HIV treatment to 85% of patients by 2016
Eleven Myanmar
Published on Monday, 09 December 2013 19:46
People living with HIV/AIDS will be provided access to antiretroviral drugs by next year, according to Dr. Sit Naing from Marie Stopes International.
The Ministry of Health and other civic organisations who are monitoring HIV/AIDS in Myanmar will cooperate to implement the plan.
The project will combat immunodeficiency and gonorrhoea and the Health Ministry will build more antiretroviral clinic centres, extending the availability of drugs to 85 percent of patients by 2016.
The project has opened service centres in Waibargi Hospital, Mandalay General Hospital and four hospitals on the Myanmar-Thai border.
Myanmar has more than 120,000 people have HIV/AIDS and only 60,000 (48.5 percent) receive antiretroviral treatment.
http://elevenmyanmar.com/national/4372-myanmar-expand-hiv-treatment-to-85-of-patients-by-2016
