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Nepal’s 2011 census
reported that among its 26.7 million people, 2 million work abroad - many in
neighboring India, which is home to 2.5 million HIV-positive people and a hub
for sex workers recruited from Nepal.
Nepal’s 2010 progress
report for the UN Millennium Development Goals predicts the nation will reach
the target of lowering the poverty rate 21 percent by 2015. The report also
says Nepal has succeeded in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. Yet in western
Nepal, where at least half the population lives below the poverty line, the
reality is different, especially for women in villages like Rakam Kranali.
Family Health
International’s 2004 report “Women and HIV/AIDS - Experiences and Consequences
of Stigma and Discrimination - Nepal” found HIV-positive women were denied
access to household resources. Women with HIV often are stigmatized as immoral
and blamed as spreaders of the virus.
The few remote
villages with voluntary counseling and testing centers “are so poorly run that
they hardly make a difference” for the women, said Ganashyam Bhandari of the
HIV/AIDS Alliance. Many women cannot afford to travel to one of Nepal’s 13
centers capable of measuring CD4 cell counts; most of these are in cities.
Community social
worker Rani Devi Bohara blames persistent stigma against women traumatized by
infection, social ostracism, and poverty on an apathetic government and a
society “unwilling to change.” She notes that antiretrovirals are needed, plus
psychological counseling for patients and families, income generation support,
and welfare programs.
“We have no choice
but to try and survive somehow,” said the leader of a group of HIV-positive
widows. “The government is not going to help us.”
The Friends of AIDS
Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive
individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread
of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please
visit:
http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
