UK offers $38M to health fund for Myanmar

Britain pledged GBP20 million ($38 million) to finance a new program to tackle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Myanmar. The so-called Three Diseases Fund, which is expected to have a total purse of $100 million, was created by the U.K., Australia, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden to fill the void caused by the pullout of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria from the Asian nation last year. The five-year initiative will promote condom use, broaden HIV testing and TB diagnosis and treatment, provide care and treatment to AIDS-infected people, and distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets to avert any malaria outbreak. According to U.K. international development minister Gareth Thomas, Burma is facing a public health crisis that the international community must respond to. “We know that working in Burma is difficult but our recent experience makes us believe that it is possible to make a difference,” Thomas added.

Source: UK donates $38m to fight Aids in Burma (Financial Times)