HIV infections in Nepal have decreased in the past decade. According to the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), Nepal has an estimated 34,337 people living with HIV, which is 76 per cent lower than in 2015. Likewise, AIDS-related deaths have also fallen by 76 per cent in a decade.
Speaking at a program organised in Kathmandu on Sunday on the occasion of World AIDS Day, Dr Sarbesh Sharma, Director of the NCASC, said, “Nepal is currently facing a concentrated HIV epidemic, which means that one or more key population groups have an HIV prevalence rate of more than five per cent. The prevalence among the general population and women receiving maternity services is less than one per cent.”
This year’s World AIDS Day is being marked nationwide under the theme “Let Communities Lead: Overcome Barriers, Transform HIV Response.”
The key populations infected by the virus include people who inject drugs, sexual and gender minorities, migrant workers, sex workers, and prison inmates.
Nepal adheres to the global 95-95-95 HIV targets: 95 per cent of people with HIV know their status, 95 per cent of those diagnosed are on antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 95 per cent of those on ART have a suppressed viral load. The country has so far reached 90 per cent in HIV testing, 88 per cent in treatment initiation, and 76 per cent viral-load suppression.
Only 26,372 individuals (77 per cent) are currently receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), leaving 23 per cent of infected persons outside treatment. Nepal is currently operating 96 ART sites across the country and plans to expand treatment services to all 77 districts. All services, including HIV testing, ART medication, viral-load testing, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission, were so far offered free of cost.
Nepal’s HIV control and prevention programme has primarily been operating with foreign aid. However, funding cuts from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund have deprived hundreds of vulnerable groups of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which is a preventive medicine for those at risk of infection from unprotected sex or intravenous use. In addition to the control and prevention programmes, awareness programmes have also halted as a result of the funding shortfall.
