The Union Office in Myanmar hosted its annual New Year’s celebration in early April for 200 children who are HIV positive and receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the Integrated HIV Care (IHC) Programme. The festivities included a dance performance, in which the children participated, a magic show and a caricaturist. The children were also given school supplies and gifts as part of the day’s events.
This celebration, first held in 2010, aims to provide a positive highlight in the calendar for the children in treatment through the IHC programme, an innovative scheme in which The Union and partners assist integration of HIV services into existing public health services.
The IHC programme has been operating in Myanmar since 2005 and The Union has since become one of the top providers of ART in the country. As of March 2016, more than 24,000 patients – over 1,000 of whom are children – currently receive treatment at 34 service-delivery points across four regions. The Union is also currently working with the National AIDS Programme to expand and further decentralise services to more treatment centres in Myanmar.
The IHC programme works in close collaboration with the National AIDS Programme, the Department of Public Health and the Ministry of Health, with funding from Total E&P Myanmar and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.