160 HIV/HCV patients to receive free medical care

March 5, 2018

A new plan seeks to offer medical treatment free of charge to 160 people living with the HIV/HCV infection, said Dr Htun Nyunt Oo, programme manager of the National AIDS Programme.

The project will be implemented this year by the National AIDS Programme and Community Partners International (CPI) with a US$1.5 million grant provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“In phase-I of the project, drug treatments will be provided to the target patients at Waibagi Specialist Hospital in Yangon, with the project implementers planning to extend the project to other hospitals in the future,” said Dr Htun Nyunt Oo.

Plans for the two-year programme call for 800 patients with HIV/HCV to undergo medical care starting this year, said Dr Si Thura, executive director of the CPI.

Based on the number of viruses and their current liver conditions, as well as the taking of antiretroviral drugs, 160 out of 400 patients infected with hepatitis C will be chosen to fill the project’s first-year quota. The programme will also donate the remaining funds to care for 340 patients through the Liver Foundation.

“We will use Velpatasvir and sofosbuvir, a globally recognized combination medication for the treatment of hepatitis C. However, there will be side effects when patients are treated with the ART drugs, in combination with Velpatasvir and sofosbuvir.

The anti-hepatitis C virus drug may reduce possible side effects, in combination with the state-of-the-art HIV drugs. This is why we selected Waibagi hospital for the project in Yangon. We will negotiate with the Ministry of Health and Sports to bring the project to Mandalay,” noted Dr Si Thura.

The prevalence of HIV can also vary depending on geographical regions. According to the Myanmar National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS 2016- 2020 (HIV NSP III), there are an estimated 224,794 people living with HIV in Myanmar, with key populations bearing a disproportionate burden of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic.

The estimated HIV prevalence rates among people who inject drugs (PWID), female sex workers (FSWs), and men who have sex with men (MSM) in Myanmar are 28.5 %, 14.6 % and 11.6 %, respectively.

“People who injected drugs are among the groups most vulnerable to HIV and HCV infections. In some cases, we find three severe infectious diseases in a person, especially in Kachin State. We conduct needle exchange programmes in the area to reduce HIV transmissions. However, we received negative feedbacks from residents who thought that the programme cannot help reduce drug addictions in the area,” Dr Si Thura added.

The USAID will also provide US$10 million for HIV/AIDS Flagship projects in 2018 and 2019, targeting patients with HIV, including PWIDs, FSWs, KPs and transgender people (TGs).

Dr Htun Nyunt Oo said that it is estimated that some US$460 million is required to carry out HIV NSP III, a five-year project to combat HIV, between 2016 and 2020.

Myanmar is ranked 25 on the list of global countries having a high rate of HIV infections. When compare with 2010, the rate of new patients with HIV infections decreased by 26%, while the death toll due to AIDS-related disease dropped by 52%.

May Thet Hnin

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar