Migrants indulge in vice, gift misery for kin

KATHMANDU, Nov 30 - For 27-year-old Minu Pariyar of Gorkha, life changed completely the day she found out she was HIV positive. Her husband, who died just a month ago, transmitted the virus to her.

Minu’s husband, like many in her village, went to India in search of employment. He lived in Agra throughout their 12-year married life where he engaged in unsafe sexual practices.

It was only when he had fallen sick that she came to know he had contracted the virus. Now Minu has found solace in a rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu. Her elder daughter also has contracted the virus. Only her youngest one is safe from the virus.

Seasonal and long-term migration to India, especially from far-western Nepal, has been widespread over several

decades now. It is estimated that annually nearly seven million Nepalis migrate to neighbouring India for job opportunities.

Since these people keep on moving, government and non-governmental organisations say these are the most challenging group to reach. Various studies show that the knowledge of safe sex practices and about HIV/AIDS in this population group is less than 10 per cent.

Dr Ram Prasad Shrestha, Director of the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), said that there is still more to be done in addressing the migrant population.

A CARE Nepal study in Doti district in 2002 suggested HIV prevalence among 10 per cent of migrants. From these areas, 80 to 90 per cent of the male members and at least one from each household migrate to India

Similarly, in Bajhang district, CARE found that only two migrants, out of 32 covered under the study, used condoms during sexual contacts. Another study conducted by Family Health International (FHI) in 2002 revealed that many migrant workers visit sex workers during their stay abroad.

Experts also fear that the conflict situation in Nepal has added to the population, placing more people at risk.

Red Cross in partnership with other organisations, has been distributing information on condom use and AIDS in the border areas of Parsa, Jhapa and Kanchanpur districts. But, this is just happening at small levels, she said.

The government, through the funding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), has drawn out a plan to focus on this migrating population.

However, the fund is still not operational and this has made the experts fear that the HIV epidemic could prove to be disastrous.