It was preceded by a one-day Ad-hoc Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) meeting in the same venue on 29 October 2018.
The Global Fund South-East Asia Constituency Pre-Board Meeting was held in Summit Parkview Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar on 30 -31 October 2018.
The main objectives of the meeting were:
1) Preparing for the Global Fund board meeting to be held 14 and 15 November 2018 in Geneva
2) Identifying issues from the constituency members to present at the Board Meeting
3) To discuss and eventually endorse the set-up of the RCM for the South-East Asia Constituency.
The South-East Asia Constituency meeting was attended by delegates from 10 countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Global Fund Secretariat, WHO, UNAIDS and PATH. The meeting was inaugurated by His Excellency, Dr Myint Htwe, the Union Minister for Health and Sports of Myanmar and Chair of the MHSCC. H.E. highlighted the Global Fund as a key development partner for Myanmar, which has enabled the country to make exceptional progress in combating HIV, TB and Malaria.
The Inaugural session included remarks by the Board Member (BM) for the SEA Constituency, Professor Mohammad Abul Faiz, Dr. Stephan Jost, WHO Representative to Myanmar, Dr. Shona Wynd, Senior Regional Policy Adviser, Ms. Carole Presern, Director Office of the Board Affairs, Global Fund Secretariat. The speakers acknowledged and expressed their appreciations of the progress made by the Union of the Republic of Myanmar and its people in fighting the three diseases and assured their full support and continue collaboration in achieving the targets of three diseases. The opening session ended with a vote of thanks from the Alternate Board Member (ABM), Dasho Kunzang Wangdi.
The meeting was chaired by MHSCC Vice-Chair Professor Rai Mra with Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, Alternate Board Member, as Co-Chair and Dr. Samhari Baswedan of Indonesia as the meeting Rapporteur.
The decisions endorsed by the meeting were:
To nominate candidates for Vice Chair of the Global Fund Board. A Selection Committee in the SEA Constituency was formed consisting of the BM, ABM, the Communication Focal Point (CFP), Dr. Suriya Wongkhongkathep, Mr. Filipe Da Costa and Dr. T.L.C Somatunga.
To assist DPRK in requesting Global Fund for reinstatement of Global Fund grants for TB and Malaria Programs.
To start developing a separate Concept Note on Malaria Elimination and TB/HIV integration for mobile/undocumented populations in cross-border areas in SEA Constituency countries, to ensure immediate engagement with the Strategic Committee for the priority under the catalytic funding (2020-2022).
