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.
Source: Xinhua
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