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Kathmandu Saturday October 13, 2001 Ashwin 27, 2058.
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HIV inroad
HIV, the virus that causes the disease AIDS has now begun to spread rapidly
across the country. HIV/AIDS has been a matter of grave concern ever since the fatal
disease was first detected in this country some fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, the
government has done nothing to contain the disease, nor have the health related NGOs come
up with specific measures to prevent further spread of the virus that is passed on mostly
through unprotected sexual contact, intravenous drug use and blood transfusions. As a
result, the virus is fast spreading across the country. It is not only a medical problem
but will soon become a social and economic problem as well as a larger portion of the
population becomes affected. It stands to become a national tragedy that will also exact a
high price emotionally. Had the government introduced some timely measures to contain the
deadly epidemic, the situation would not have become so terrifying. Back in the Panchayat
days when the problem first surfaced in Nepal the authorities first pretended that there
was not problem at all. But once that dispensation was swept aside there was no longer any
excuse for the governments of the day to delay the needed preventive measures. This just
goes to highlight the inefficacy of our state apparatus.
The findings of the Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic Network (MAP), a UN funded
organization, underline the fact that the virus has made rapid inroads in Nepal,
Indonesia, Iran, Japan and Vietnam. However, the most recent figures released by the
National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC) run contrary to the MAP findings. NCASC
claims that only 2,080 people have been found HIV positive in Nepal. Of them, over 500
have already developed full blown AIDS. NCASC had in a previous report stated that over
25,000 patients had succumbed to AIDS in the country. The number of people infected stood
closer to 34,000, it had further claimed. The Shukra Raj Tropical and Infectious Disease
Hospital, in a modest bid to combat the disease, even launched a separate clinic for the
HIV positive. How does NCASC account for the discrepancy in its own figures? On what was
its report last year based?
Although HIV is a global concern, our country appears to be more susceptible
to it and its tragic consequences. It has neither proper infrastructure, nor well trained
manpower to contain the killer disease. There is no separate and specialized public health
service where the HIV positive can be treated regularly. Moreover, without proper
awareness about this disease, all efforts, no matter how scientific, will be futile. The
open border to the south has further aggravated the situation. Thousands of people move
across this border with no restriction. The social attitude that the HIV positive should
not be allowed to mingle with others has again made things worse. People carrying the HIV
virus never admit it for fear of being ostracized by society. This too has hampered
efforts to tackle what has been described as the AIDS time bomb that is ticking away in
our midst.
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