KATHMANDU, April 26: Children under the age of 18 living with HIV/AIDS will receive Rs 1,500 per month from June this year following donor agencies’ commitment to provide funds, an official of a government agency said.
There are an estimated 24,000 children living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal but only 2,200 children spread across nine districts will receive the money over the next five years, according to National Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD control (NCASC).
“The government cannot run the program across the country at once. So, we have given priority to the highly affected nine districts,” said Dr Kk Rai, director of NCASC.
He said proper monitoring will be carried out to ensure money is utilized in education, health and nutrition of those children.
Surveillance officer at NCASC Deepak Karki and further decisions will be taken as per the impact of the program.
Officials said government and the donor agencies agreed to provide financial assistance to the children of the most affected districts as per the need of the affected children.
The Global Fund, the major donor in HIV/AIDS will provide around Rs 200 million to the government.
According to Gokarna Bhatta, coordinator of Global Fund’s Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) affected children who are deprived of basic rights will benefit from the program.
“Due to poor health, affected children lag behind in overall performance,” he said. “They need special care and support program and need additional nutrition as well.”
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