| Target sex workers, clients, IDUs to cut HIV risk: Report -
15-08-2006, 10:17 PM
KATHMANDU, Aug 15. 2006 - The future course of Nepal's HIV epidemic will depend above all on the scope, coverage and effectiveness of programs for sex workers and clients as well as Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs) and their sex partners, a report said.
"Cross-border migration, especially involving women migrating (or trafficked) into sex work, particularly to Mumbai, increases HIV transmission," said the World Bank (WB) report titled, "South Asia's HIV epidemic is severe but better prevention could halt its spread," launched at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, according to a statement issued here on Monday by the WB.
The statement said that the national response should also address the future risk of sex between men. It said Nepal's continuing internal civil strife poses formidable challenges, but also increases the importance of NGOs and community based organizations working in the area. "Tackling stigma and discrimination are a priority, as elsewhere in the region, and efforts to reduce trafficking are critically important," the statement added.
In Nepal, for example, over 30 per cent of the budget of the National Center for AIDS and STD Control has been spent on prevention, care, and treatment activities for the general population, and only 6 per cent on harm reduction programs for IDUs, although IDU is a major driver of the HIV epidemic, the report highlighted.
The statement further warned that South Asia's HIV/AIDS epidemic can be expected to grow rapidly unless all the eight countries in the region, especially India, can saturate high-risk groups such as sex workers and their clients, IDUs and men having sex with men with better HIV prevention measures.
Focusing mainly on five countries in the region including Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for which there is adequate data - the new report concludes that countries must tailor their HIV prevention programs to suit their own local conditions rather than rely on generic global or regional approaches which have failed to make a difference for individuals.
म अनि मेरो नेपाल उस्तै उस्तै हो । | 
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