The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) team spent the day both visiting facilities and meeting with staff. At Monywa Hospital, they visited the IHC storage facility, which is staffed by the government pharmacist. The stock comes by public transportation from The Union's office in Mandalay and is delivered directly to the door.
All the drugs and laboratory testing for HIV and opportunistic infections are supplied free of charge, but patients have to pay for other non-HIV/TB medicines, which they buy at the private pharmacy attached to the hospital.
The team met the members of the People Living with HIV/AIDS Network, who counsel others on adherence, providing three adherence sessions with each newly enrolled patient. The network has 15 active HIV-positive members, which is a large group for such a recently opened site. The Union provided funds for renovations to the building they are using.
As part of a site visit, the team also met with the assistant surgeons (general practitioners) who co-run the out-patient department, the pharmacist in charge of the antiretroviral storage unit and supplies, the TB and HIV Key Persons, who are the government management counterparts for the IHC programme. They also met the medical superintendent in charge of the hospital, who was friendly and chatted with the team for 20 minutes.
Overall the team was impressed with what had been accomplished in a short time and the enthusiasm and dedication of those involved.
The Integrated HIV Care (IHC) programme is a collaborative programme involving The Union Office in Myanmar, the Myanmar National TB Programme and the Myanmar National AIDS Programme. As part of this collaboration, The Union provides one Union doctor to work alongside one government doctor. The goal is to decrease HIV-related morbidity and mortality. As of June 2011, the IHC programme has 11,173 HIV-infected patients enrolled, of whom 6,333 are on antiretroviral therapy.