The declaration also urged all the stakeholders including governmental and non-government organizations, civil society, people living with HIV and the family members to unite against HIV/AIDS.[break]
“Mother-to-child tranmission of HIV will be checked immediately. The special campaign of mandatory HIV checkup for pregnant women will be initiated and in case of positive result they will be provided with anti-retroviral(ARV) drugs to protect the baby from HIV,” said the declaration.
Director at National Center for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), Dr Krishna Kumar Rai said that ARV drug is the most effective drug to check the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The number of HIV affected pregnant women constitutes 0.3 percent of the total HIV patients in the country.
According to Rai, the mandatory HIV checkup for pregnant women has already been started in highly HIV-prone districts including Achham, Kailali and Sunsari. He said the service will be started in 15 more district in the near future. He also informed that HIV prevalence rate in the last decade has gone down markedly due to increased awareness and availability of medications for HIV patients.
Participants of the conference had underscored the need to expand the mandatory HIV testing of the pregnant women throughout the country. A total of 51,000 people in Nepal are living with HIV while only 8,000 have been provided ARV medication. The declaration also calls for providing ARV to all HIV patients.
The conference has also expressed commitment to raise voice against the violence and the social stigma faced by people living with HIV/AIDS. On Sunday, the government started a national campaign to provide medicines to prevent those with AIDS from contracting tuberculosis (TB), which is held responsible for the high morbidity, mortality, and suffering among people with HIV in Nepal.
Participants also said that it will be a real challenge to take the HIV/AIDS program beyond 2015, when existing fund provider Global fund will stop its funding for the program.
The participants of the conference also underscored the need for spending the budget meant for HIV program effectively to the target group. At the conference, 150 research studies were presented, and 15 scientific sessions and 10 empowerment seminars were conducted while 20 HIV related documentaries were screened during the four-day conference. According to Conference Coordinator Dipak Karki, over 1,000 people from Nepal and abroad had participated in the conference.
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