PRESS RELEASE
In a signing ceremony held in Yangon on 16 January in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Health (MoH), eight local non-governmental organizations delivering services in Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV and AIDS at community level received additional grants of maxium US$70,000 each, which brings the number of implementing partners to more than 30 international and local agencies.

In October 2006, six donors—Australia, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom—pledged US$100 million until 2011 to establish the Three Diseases Fund (3DF) respectively contributing: DfiD: US$36 million; EC: US$23 million; Sida: US$15 million; AusAID; US$13 million; Netherlands: US$7 million; Norway: US$7 million.

Over the last two years (2007-2009), 3DF has granted total US$41 million to 38 projects from 15 international non-governmental organizations, 5 UN agencies, medical associations and local non-governmental organizations reaching out to remote communities through mobile and fixed clinics, volunteers, basic health workers and township medical officers working in the national disease control programmes.

The Fund is committed to working more closely with local NGOs and CBOs in recognition that many of them have strong grassroots networks and can reach beneficiaries in parts of the country not easily accessed by public health services or international NGOS.