Here is a press release from the Three Diseases Fund. The [him] moderator hopes to post the Round 3 grant announcement and all the HIV presentations soon. And in less than a month the mid term evaluation report of the Three Diseases Fund will be released. It will be posted here as soon as it is.
[him] moderator
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NEWS RELEASE
The Three Diseases Fund at the mid-point: saving the lives of thousands
Yangon, 16 October (Three Diseases Fund)-On Wednesday, the Three Diseases Fund (3DF) held its 2009' Annual Review Meeting in Yangon, allowing more than 160 participants from international and local NGO and UN partner agencies, along with senior representatives from the Ministry of Health and donor countries, to share the outcomes of the programme activities last year.
With a commitment of US$114 million dollar over five years, the fund is the biggest single pooled fund in the health sector in Myanmar. "The main achievement of the fund is that it proved it worked effectively and contributed to improving and saving the lives of thousands", Bengt Ekman, Chair of the Fund Board and representative of Sweden in the Donor Consortium, said.
The 3DF is now at the mid-point between its original set up in October 2006 and the 2011 target date. Donor contributions have amounted to US$ 71.5 million on behalf of the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Two series of grants were disbursed to 31 implementing partners-five UN, fifteen international NGOs, three local NGOs and eight Community-based Organizations-reaching out to those most-at-risk of TB, malaria and HIV and AIDS in all States and Divisions.
An independent evaluation has assessed the fund's performance at the mid-term and confirmed it had an impact on people's lives. "The fund has functioned satisfactorily and has been successful in providing health services. There is a broad appreciation of the fund and the Fund Management Office by stakeholders and partners", concluded Paul Thornton, team leader of the evaluation team.
"The 3DF demonstrates trust among a broad range of actors that results can be achieved", underlined Mr. Ekman. Mechanisms were successfully developed upon existing networks of international and local NGOs, UN agencies and the public health sector, as well as thousands of private doctors, basic health staff and volunteers to reach out to remote communities.
In 2008, partner agencies provided 6,804 people living with HIV with antiretroviral therapy (ART), representing 45 per cent of the people treated in the country. They successfully treated some 27,800 TB patients and around 712,600 malaria cases. HIV prevention reached some 633,500 people, and behaviour change communication on TB 131,610 clients.
Still, the support remains thin for 39 million people in malaria endemic areas and some 240,000 people living with HIV. As the Annual Review Meeting highlighted, adequate resources from both national and international sources are needed to effectively address the major public health problems of the country on a sufficient scale, among which the continuous supply of free anti-TB drugs and a much wider access to lifesaving medicines such as ART are special challenges.
Finally, the donors to the fund have indicated that they are committed to working together in the health sector. They will initiate a scoping study in November, in order to evaluate the gaps and needs to be potentially addressed by a new health fund post 2011.
For more information
Denise Jeanmonod, Communications Officer, Three Diseases Fund
Tel/Fax: 95-1-534498, 504832 (ext. 210), 95-9-43380175 (mobile), skype: denisejeanmonod
E-mail: denisej@3dfund.org
Internet: http://www.3dfund.org
http://www.3dfund.org/presentations2009
