Burma needs AIDS funds

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDFeb 23 2012

The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders has urged international donors to make more money available to treat HIV/AIDS in Burma.

Peter Paul de Groote, MSF head in Burma, told the BBC that the current situation was dire. He said more than 15,000 Burmese die of HIV/AIDS every year because they do not have access to antiretroviral drugs. The prevalence rate of the disease however is at 0.67% - relatively low by international standards. Cases of tuberculosis - a major killer of HIV patients - in Myanmar are nearly triple the global rate, as difficult-to-treat forms of the disease that do not respond to common treatment surge. However, years of international isolation and sanctions have left Burma a struggling healthcare system.

Burma spends a quarter of its budget on the military and only a fraction of that on health, but Mr. de Groote said his organization had not asked the army-backed authorities to reassess their priorities. “We are not politicians, but we do hope the health sector will receive more money over time, and there are some indications that this will happen,” he said.

At the launch of a new report called “Lives in the Balance”, MSF said that only a quarter of the estimated 120,000 people living with HIV and Aids were receiving treatment, and that it was turning people away from its clinics. “It's an unacceptable decision that our doctors have to make on a day to day basis,” Mr. de Groote said. “We have to prioritize those who are sickest and will die soon to save their lives. Other people we have to turn away and say come back when you are sicker,” he said. Doctors Without Borders provides antiretroviral drugs to about 23,000 people at 23 clinics nationwide, funding more than half of all HIV treatment being provided to nearly 40,000 patients, said de Groote, who heads the organization’s Myanmar operation.

“Regardless of what is happening in the country, the people that are in need of treatment, need treatment,” de Groote said referring to the political situation in the country. “Of course, we all hope that the developments as they seem to be going in that direction will lead to more money into the country, but, in general, I think this money should be coming in regardless of what the situation is.”