Chitwan, December 1
The World AIDS is being observed around the world, including Nepal today under the theme “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response”. The theme this year calls for sustained political leadership, international cooperation, and human-rights-centered approaches to end AIDS by 2030.
Various programmes are also being organized in the country today, under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Population, and the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC). Meanwhile, in Chitwan, the number of sexually transmitted diseases among HIV-AIDS infected people in the district is on the rise. Among them, 35 were found to have sexually transmitted diseases.
According to Dr Pramod Poudel, senior physician at Bharatpur Hospital, during the tests conducted on 1,040 people in the past 10 months, 35 were found carrying sexually transmitted diseases. Likewise, tuberculosis has been found in seven of the AIDS infected people.
This was found in the tests of ninety-three people. Currently, there are 1,243 AIDS infected people in the district. Of these, 34 people are taking ART from Baghauda Hospital in Madi, while 1,209 people are taking it from the ART Center in Bharatpur. Poudel informed that 66 new infections were found during tests conducted at various places in the district in the past 10 months.
According to Krishnahari Sapkota, program coordinator of the AIDS Health Foundation at Bharatpur Hospital, 65 patients who were taking ART have been transferred while 28 have stopped taking the ART. He said that 13 of the infected people here have died. Sapkota said that the perspective of looking at AIDS patients has not changed yet. Even ambulance driver hesitate in bringing the infected to the hospital for treatment.
