Using local resources to fight HIV / AIDS in Nepal

Aidscaptions. 1994 Aug;1(3):13-5.

Abstract

PIP: Available data suggest that the extent of HIV infection in Nepal is small, but growing. 124 cases of HIV infection were identified and reported in 1993, 201 in 1994. These are, however, only the cases which were identified and there are no doubt many more which remained undiagnosed in the country. Nepal also borders India, a country in which one million people may be infected with HIV by the year 2000. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese men seek work in India as migrant laborers, while up to 100,000 Nepalese women work in India as prostitutes. Engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse where the prevalence of HIV infection among the general population is comparatively high naturally puts one at risk of contracting HIV. General Welfare Pratisthan (GWP), is a nongovernmental organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal, which has focused upon improving health, education, and the environment since its inception in 1991. The organization is wholly funded by General Paper Industry, a private, family-owned company which produces paper products and packaging materials from recycled paper and cloth materials. General Paper contributes a full 10% of its annual export value to GWP. The first of several AIDS programs launched by GWP is an HIV/AIDS information and condom distribution project at the police post on the Tribhuwan Highway at Thankot. GWP built a weather-proof building for the police and an adjacent post for the organization's outreach staff from which it can contact the thousands of Nepalese and Indians crossing the shared border daily. In particular, the intervention aims to reach the host of transient, poorly informed transport workers with an AIDS prevention message. Program successes have led to the recruitment of student volunteers from twenty-three college campuses in the Kathmandu Valley to serve as motivators at the post during the school holiday, free HIV/AIDS advertisements in at least fifty cinemas nationwide, a national essay competition for secondary school students, the development of a similar border operation in the city of Bhairahawa, and possible workplace-based AIDS prevention programs in local industries.

MeSH terms

  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*
  • Asia
  • Condoms*
  • Contraception
  • Developing Countries
  • Disease
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Family Planning Services
  • HIV Infections*
  • Health Education*
  • Health Workforce
  • Industry*
  • Nepal
  • Organizations*
  • Private Sector*
  • Research*
  • Transients and Migrants*
  • Transportation*
  • Virus Diseases