Girls and young women continue to be particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in Nepal. Recent ongoing political instability and civil unrest have further exacerbated this. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of mobile populations. This is particularly true for young men who do not wish to become involved in the civil unrest. There has also been a rise in the numbers of young female sex workers. Indeed, sex workers constitute the biggest vulnerable group to HIV infection. For instance, up to 50 % of sex workers who have recently worked in Mumbai are living with HIV. Mobile populations, injecting drug users (IDUs) and men who have sex with men (MSM) are also officially categorized as the other key vulnerable groups. The government response is far from mainstreamed or prioritized and there is currently no national coordinating body. This has resulted in the response being largely led by civil society groups via external donor funding. There is a National HIV/AIDS Strategy, although this was developed in 2002 and has yet to be updated. Stigma and discrimination, particularly that experienced by young women and girls, presents the biggest barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care and support initiatives. Currently, there is a distinct lack of policies and programmes directed at reducing such attitudes around stigma and discrimination.
Despite such constraints, there are signs of progress being made. Under the directives of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services are being improved and increased, with vulnerable populations the priority target groups. Although there is not yet a national AIDS Law, the National Centre for AIDS and STI Control (NCASC) commissioned a study of the legal environment regarding HIV and AIDS. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy has good policies although many of its targets have yet to be released due to a lack of sufficient infrastructure and coordination with other national policies. Such positive developments need to be built upon through both increased funding and mainstreaming of policies, in order to genuinely work towards scaling up access to comprehensive HIV information and services.
#HIV/AIDS
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Publisher:
IPPF, UNFPA
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(2007
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Type / Script:
Progress Report
in English
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Keywords:
AIDS, HIV INFECTIONS, IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES, VIRAL DISEASES, SEX EDUCATION, FAMILY PLANNING, HUMAN REPRODUCTION, SEX, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, PREGNANCY, FAMILY PLANNING, ABORTION, ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION, BIRTH DEFECTS, CHILDBIRTH, CONTRACEPTION, FERTILIZATION
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Thematic Group:
UNFPA
:
Population studies
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Thesaurus:
10.03.02
- Diseases And Carriers Of Diseases
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Reference Link:
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