Six months have passed since cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, leaving an estimated 130,000 people dead or missing and altering the region immeasurably.

An unprecedented number of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), working alongside the state authorities, have done much to stabilize the situation and continue to provide essential support for people's ongoing recovery.

As such, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is now able to hand over many of its programmes to other actors.

In distinct contrast, elsewhere in the country MSF staff continue to battle against chronic and urgent health needs, compounded by a lack of investment by both the government and the international community alike.

These countrywide needs, not least in the areas of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, to mention a few, continue to cost the lives of thousands of people year upon year, yet fail to take the attention of the media.