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Crusade against killer AIDS doesn’t fare well
KATHMANDU, JUN 03 -
Despite an increasing inflow of aid money in the name of HIV/AIDS infected, three-forth of such children are out of reach of the government and many other organisations working in this sector.
In the fiscal year 2009/10 alone, the government has allocated Rs. 150 million for HIV/AIDS, while the contribution of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is more than ten-fold of this amount.
The government record as of December 2009 shows that 919 children, including 363 girls, are living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal. The 5-9 age group has the highest (433) infection.
During this period, 205 of the total infected children received Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART), the life saving drug, according to Dilli Raman Adhikary, Chief of Strategic Information Unit at National Centre for Aids and STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) Control (NCASC). “Seventy-two percent children living with HIV do not receive ART.”
ART is provided to the infected children whose clinical criteria demand it. One needs to have less than 250 lymphoid, a kind of white blood cells, to take ART. Record shows that 714 of the total infected children do not receive ART mainly due to lack of intervention on the part of the government and many organisations working in this sector.
“NCASC has formulated a policy to control AIDS epidemic, but the document does not speak particularly for the needs of the children living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal,” said Rajiv Kafle, President of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA).
Despite some efforts to control HIV/AIDS and lessen the problems surrounding the victims, HIV-infected children are often subjected to social stigma and are rejected by schools.
Most of the children infected by HIV/AIDS or orphaned due to it are living in a deplorable condition. “They don’t get adequate nutrition and hygienic circumstances are bad. This is especially critical and detrimental for infected children,” said Sushil Khatri, Chairman of Friends Infected and Affected Hand in Hand (FAITH). “There is an urgent need to address these issues and to strengthen the whole spectrum of health and social systems.”
As the government and the NGOs trade charge, HIV/AIDS continue taking its toll on children. NGOs working in the sector blame the government for the plight of the children.
Posted on: 2010-06-04 08:28
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