SRH and HIV/AIDS Linkages at Policies, Programmes and Service ...

priority. A large part of the preventionprogramme is currently supported bythree major grants from USAID, DFIDand the GFATM (Round 2, Round 7),with activities being implemented by asizeable number of community basedorganisations and national NGOsincluding PLHIV.So far the most notable institutionalmechanism is the National AIDSCouncil (NAC) chaired by the PrimeMinister. This is the highest levelbody providing the highest level ofleadership, multi-sectoral policy andguidance to the HIV/AIDS responsein Nepal. However, the NCASC hasremained the key institution in thenational response to HIV. In view ofchanging needs within the institutionalarrangement, the HIV/AIDS andSTI Control Board (HSCB) was setup under the chair of the Ministry ofHealth, along with representation fromcivil society organisations, to furtherpromote policy development, multisectoralcoordination and monitoringthe national response.Government service delivery outlets haveincreased - particularly for VCT, ARTsites, sub ART sites and OpportunisticInfections (OI) management sites- along with additional service sitesimplemented by various NGOs andINGOs. However, the uptake ofservices has only marginally increased.Detection of positive cases has almostremained constant and utilisation rateper VCT centre has gone down. Asof July 2009 there were 3,236 peopleon ART. In December 2009, thatnumber increased to 3,540. Despite anincreased uptake of ART from 11 percent in 2008 to 19 per cent in 2009,the coverage is still low. This indicates71