Global Fund Money Helping Myanmar Provide ART For More People

Al Jazeera examines how a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria grant is helping Myanmar provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) to its HIV-positive population. “Since 2010, when the Global Fund resumed work after pulling out of the country in 2005 due to government restrictions on its staff, Myanmar has seen improvements, said [Myint Shwe, manager of the country’s national AIDS program],” the news agency writes. The article profiles several AIDS treatment and care centers, as well as patients. Peter Paul de Groote, head of mission in Myanmar for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), “said that, while the new Global Fund money would have an impact, national practice would also need to change” in order for more qualified patients to receive treatment, according to the news agency. “Additional resources will also be required as the total number of people eligible for treatment in the country will increase. … However, achieving this is not only a matter of financial resources for drugs, but also the overall availability and capacity for enrollment needs to improve — by looking into better treatment models and implementing increased, decentralized care and treatment,” de Groote said by email, according to Al Jazeera (Lewis, 9/14).

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