EACH PERSON OF THE VDC INFECTED WITH HIV!!!!!!

by Yashoda Aryal

How would we feel if we come to strike with the news that everyone of the village —all men, women, children even new bornes are infected with HIV!!!!!! I was really stunned by knowing the condition in 3rd National AIDS conference that was held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

It is the real scenario of one VDC of Achham district in Nepal. Achham is rural district of Nepal of which every men go to India for employment. Because of their ignorance they have unsafe sex with sex workers, result–HIV infection. When they come back home, they transmit infection to their wives. The issue is cross border migration. There are lots of organisations working together but the condition remains the same.

In Nepal, National Centre for AIDS & STD Control is the organisation which maintains the records about HIV & AIDS. The reported cases in october 2008 were 12,547. According to UNAIDS report there are more than 70,000 (The total population of Nepal is about 27,500,000 in an area of 147,181 sq.m2). Lets brain storm the difference in the detected case and undiagnosed cases, nearly 48,453 HIV infected are freely roaming around leaving their partners and peers to be infected with HIV & AIDS.

The main reasons for HIV transmission in Nepal are poverty(around 40% are below poverty line), illiteracy( more than 40% are illiterate), high unemployment rate, lack of proper legislation for sex workers, lack of proper recording and reporting system, stigma and discrimination and many more.

The highly risk groups are sex housewives, clients of sex workers, sex workers, intravenous drug users, LGBTI groups,organ reciepient, children and others.

Nepal contibutes 0.5% of total infection in the world but it has a concentrated epidemic that HIV infection is very high in Intravenous drug users(around 40%), sex workers (around 28%) and clients of sex workers( about 20% ).

The situation is in vicious cirlce. Lets take a simple example, a village girl comes to kathmandu to persue her higher studies. Her parents cannot afford the expenses and she doesnt want to return to village because she has to fulfill her parents dreams. She doesnt get part time job, the easiest way to earn money—-be a sex worker. Then she starts visiting clients on regular basis, the vulnerability to be infected with HIV being 100%.

Lets think the real scenario, if the condition remains the same then the goals of MDGS seems be changed that is “All people infected with HIV by 2015″. I believe there is the same condition in developing countries where infection is overwhelming day by day. Lets hope the condition becomes simpler from complex and easier from difficult. Lets shoulder our obligations to protect human kind by being safe and encouraging others to be safe.