Description:
Abstract:
"Myanmar is experiencing an HIV epidemic documented since the late
1980s. The National AIDS Programme national surveillance ante-natal
clinics had already estimated in 1993 that 1.4% of pregnant women
were HIV positive, and UNAIDS estimates that at end 2005 1.3%
(range 0.7-2.0%) of the adult population was living with HIV. While a
HIV surveillance system has been in place since 1992, the
programmatic response to the epidemic has been slower to emerge
although short- and medium-terms plans have been formulated since
1990. These early plans focused on the health sector, omitted key
population groups at risk of HIV transmission and have not been
adequately funded. The public health system more generally is
severely under-funded.
By the beginning of the new decade, a number of organisations had
begun working on HIV and AIDS, though not yet in a formally
coordinated manner. The Joint Programme on AIDS in Myanmar 2003-
2005 was an attempt to deliver HIV services through a planned and
agreed strategic framework. Donors established the Fund for HIV/AIDS
in Myanmar (FHAM), providing a pooled mechanism for funding and
2
significantly increasing the resources available in Myanmar. By 2006
substantial advances had been made in terms of scope and diversity of
service delivery, including outreach to most at risk populations to HIV.
More organisations provided more services to an increased number of
people. Services ranged from the provision of HIV prevention
messages via mass media and through peers from high-risk groups, to
the provision of care, treatment and support for people living with HIV.
However, the data also show that this scaling up has not been
sufficient to reach the vast majority of people in need of HIV and AIDS
services.
The operating environment constrains activities, but does not, in
general, prohibit them. The slow rate of service expansion can be
attributed to the burdens imposed by administrative measures,
broader constraints on research, debate and organizing, and
insufficient resources. Nevertheless, evidence of recent years
illustrates that increased investment leads to more services provided
to people in need, helping them to obtain their right to health care.
But service expansion, policy improvement and capacity building
cannot occur without more resources."
Source/publisher:
Conflict and Health 2008, 2:3
Date of Publication:
2008-03-14
Date of entry:
2008-04-09
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
235.95 KB