Abstract:

Burma's Health Minister Kyaw Myint has sharply criticised a decision by the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to cancel grants worth US$98.4 million it approved in Nov 2004 and Jan 2005 to combat the three diseases in the country over the next 5 years. "Temporary restrictions on travel, that since have been relaxed, were not adequate reasons to cancel the grants", Myint said. He complained that the Global Fund did not warn his country of its intended action and warned that the termination would affect millions of people suffering from or at risk of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in the country. Peter Newsum of CARE Myanmar believes the Fund's decision to cancel the grants will have a major impact on the work of organisations involved in combating the diseases in the country.