HIV / AIDS in the Himalayas: Nepal and the threatening epidemic.

The WHO estimates that approximately 5000-10000 Nepalese are infected with HIV. By 2000 Nepal will have approximately 50000 HIV positive adults and over 9000 AIDS cases. The country is experiencing an increase in commercial sex industries intravenous drug use and migrant worker flow to and from India. This is considered quite alarming since only 1% of the countrys budget is allocated for medical and health programs. Due to financial and social pressures some members of the Badi caste become commercial sex workers or are forced to work in neighboring India. Although the future of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nepal looks bleak there is still opportunity to implement prevention programs before infection spreads over the whole country. In 1990 the Nepal Ministry of Health created a 3-year plan for the National AIDS Prevention and Control Project. The AIDSCAP project has collaborated with the Ministry of Health to conduct a set of comprehensive interventions to reduce high-risk behavior among sex workers and their clients. AIDSCAP and Save the Children/US have helped improve knowledge about HIV/AIDS and increase condom usage among sex workers and clients. In 1994 the American Foundation for AIDS Research donated US$1 million to various Nepal nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in HIV/AIDS education and prevention projects. These Nepal NGOs prove to be essential in slowing down the spread of AIDS in the country.