The [him] moderator wonders if UNFPA is following UN-recommended four pronged prevention activities or is just creating orphans. Anyone care to comment?
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UNFPA to expand HIV prevention project in Myanmar
Xinhua General News Service
23 July
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will expand its HIV prevention
project in Myanmar
with the help of Three-Disease (3-D) Fund to cover two dozen more areas in
the country, a local weekly reported Monday.
The UNFPA is at present using its regular fund to carry out the prevention
of mother-to-child HIV transmission project in 24 townships in the country
and the coverage will be extended up to a total of 50 townships across
Myanmar by 2010 with the 3-D fund additionally, the Myanmar Times quoted
sources with the organization as saying.
According to the organization, the UNFPA is offering voluntary counseling
and confidential blood testing for pregnant women who seek antenatal care
and providing care and treatment for opportunistic infections in
HIV-infected pregnant women.
There are three stages at which HIV can be transmitted from mother to
child during pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding, health experts
said.
Meanwhile, The 3-D fund is considering to provide a new aid of 20 million
US dollars to Myanmar to support work in fight against HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, diplomatic sources said earlier, however,
adding that the aid is subject to Myanmar's assurance to provide a
supportive operating environment for the fund and the work be guided by
the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.
The 3-D Fund will help stop the spread of the diseases by supporting work
through national and international non-governmental organizations, the UN
System and local public health teams, it said, adding that the fund will
focus on priority areas identified in the three national strategies for
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
The 3D Fund was developed in 2006 for an operational period of five years
by a group of six donors comprising the European Commission, Sweden's
Sida, the Netherlands, United Kingdom's Department for International
Development, Norway and Australia's Aus AID to compensate for grants which
were suspended in August 2005 by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria.
A recent workshop involving Myanmar, the World Health Organization (WHO)
and UNAIDS stated that 338,911 people were estimated to have lived with
HIV/AIDS in 2004 and the HIV prevalence in Myanmar has reduced from 1.5
percent in 2000 to 1.3 percent in 2005.
HIV/AIDS is among the three major communicable diseases of national
concern designated by Myanmar. The other two diseases are tuberculosis and
malaria.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6222094.html
