A surgeon who entered public health to work with NGOs and health ministries in several countries on HIV, TB, malaria and cyclone recovery, Dr Bala Thandan has now taken on the responsibility of running one of The Union’s largest endeavours – the Myanmar office and its 20,000-patient Integrated HIV Care (IHC) Programme.
Dr Thandan places high value on public-private-community cooperation. “HIV treatment is a partnership”, he says, one in which “HIV is manageable within the public sector”.
Toward that end, Dr Thandan is overseeing a historic shift in The Union’s IHC Programme. Many IHC patients whose conditions are stable are being brought into the government national programme. That programme, which currently treats 20,000 patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), now has capacity to take on more.
By shifting some stable cases to the national programme, IHC will free up space to treat new patients who may currently be receiving no or incomplete treatment.
As further demonstration of the partnership approach, IHC will also second 15 doctors to support the national programme. They will review the cases of those stabilized patients being reassigned to the national programme. “This is not just a transfer of patients – we are providing human support”, says Dr Thandan.
The Union will also provide training, monitoring and evaluation and technical support to the national programme.
The IHC programme operates from 36 decentralized service delivery points. Bringing treatment close to the community provides a multiplier-effect benefit, says Dr Thandan. Removing the barriers to care enables stronger treatment and helps lift the social stigma surrounding HIV by letting the community at large see how neighbours living with HIV are able to go on with their lives. “If patients are in hospitals or institutions, the community can’t see the success stories”, he explains. “When they see their neighbours able to live with HIV, more patients are likely to come forward for treatment”.
The Union is active in Myanmar. “Currently we have two TB projects on Active Case Finding and two Multi-Drug Resistant TB projects which will continue through 2016”, Dr Thandan notes.
Dr Thandan is no stranger to Myanmar, having served there in cyclone recovery and treating HIV and TB earlier in his career for another organisation. His work experience also spans several other countries.