The UK government has agreed to contribute £20m ($38m, €30m) to fighting Aids, tuberculosis and malaria in Burma – the first donation to what is expected to be a $100m, five-year health fund for the prevention and treatment of the lethal diseases in the military-ruled country.

The new “Three Diseases Fund”, which has been developed jointly by the UK, Australia, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, is intended to fill the gap left by last year’s abrupt withdrawal of the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria from Burma.