 |
Kathmandu Thursday May 03, 2001 Baishakh 20, 2058.
|
Alarming
figure
Iam writing this letter to make some
clarifications on the interesting report you carried (TKP, April 21, 2001) on the extent
of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Achham district. Although some of the figures which you
mentioned were collected by the Save the Children (UK), we have not brought out the
official data as yet. The figures concerning mortality refer to people’s beliefs
concerning the extent of the AIDS epidemic in Achham district rather than medically
verified "facts". We take them to indicate that Achham district and, no doubt,
some other districts in the far-west do have a serious situation, but do not seek to claim
epidemiological reliability for them. We further believe that the figures represent a
great alarm and concern amongst the local people of Achham, and it is our experience that
this can be a very positive motivating force for community action in response to the
situation.
Simon Mollison
Programme Director Nepal SC- UK |
