Editorial»
AIDS pandemic
DEC 02 - The outbreak of preventable diseases claims thousands of human lives every year. Unfortunately, most of the people, who fall prey to such preventable diseases, are innocent children and poor women living in remote parts of the country where proper health services are non-existent. Now AIDS, the killer disease has posed a grave threat to this country as hundreds of humans die of the disease every year. The government has not undertaken any major step in order to contain the spreading of HIV/AIDS, which has, in turn, threatened the society in all spheres.
UNAIDS/WHO estimates there are roughly 61, 000 HIV/AIDS patients living in Nepal. In three years’ time, the figure will reach a whopping 150,000. The current rate of increase indicates that in a decade the country will hardly afford to fight the killer disease, if the government and I/NGOs working in the field continue to ignore it’s spread. The seasonal migrants, who leave this country for India in search of jobs, have returned HIV positive. The illiterate migrants, who contract the deadly virus, do not disclose the disease because they fear that they would be ostracized by the society. Besides, many migrant labourers are unaware of the killer disease. As a result, they continue sexual relations with their spouses and some even donate blood.
Unfortunately, the government has undertaken no major step that generates awareness among the masses and, subsequently, prevents the spread of the deadly disease. For instance, blood donations take place without blood tests. The state-run hospitals and private clinics have no separate ward to treat HIV/AIDS patients. Unsafe practices of sex and intravenous use of drugs explain the rapid increase in HIV/AIDS patients.
The scale and magnitude of the disease in a poor country where two-thirds of the people live in abject poverty is devastating. Literacy, ignorance and social taboos have made it even more difficult to combat the AIDS pandemic. The government and non-governmental organisations cannot afford to treat the killer disease with disdain.
In recent years, some educated people, like Rajiv Kafle who contracted the HIV virus, have come out in public and are helping I/NGOs in preventing the spread of the killer disease, and giving moral support to those who need it. Their attempt to generate awareness about HIV/AIDS has been commendable. However, the disease is reaching alarming proportions. Checking the spread of the disease is everybody’s responsibility, not just the victims’.Posted on: 2003-12-01 11:13
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