Several NGOs had abandoned the infected orphans after donor agencies stopped providing financial assistance. [break]
The children said they were promised continued support for food, treatment and education, but no one has come to enquire about their condition.
The relatives were persuaded by NGOs to keep them on the promise of providing support. But even the relatives have abandoned them after the support from NGOs stopped.
Some of the ailing children who are undergoing treatment have also been infected with tuberculosis.
The doctors involved in their treatment said the treatment of the orphans will get affected if their medication is discontinued. “Same tuberculosis drug does not work after discontinuation,” said a doctor.
The patients have to be given medicines for multi-drug resistance. The same applies to the discontinuation of the ARV drug.
Arjun Khadka, 12 of Sitapur, Banke was undergoing treatment at Teku Hospital. The doctors at the Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) referred him to Teku Hospital, said Apsara Karki, the program director of Punerbal Plus.
She said Khadka starts vomiting every time he eats something. “His condition is very serious, but he has no one to look after,” Karki said. She said that Khadka was sent back to his aunt´s home from the Kopila Ashram at Dhangadhi in March. Following the death of his father, his mother left home after being mentally disturbed.
Similarly, Tika Dhungana, 9, of Tikapur Kailali is also undergoing treatment at teaching hospital. The tuberculosis and ARV drugs given to her, too, had to be discontinued. Karki said there is nobody to take care of Dhungana after her elder sister eloped. Likewise, Tiresh BK, 9, is another AIDS infected child undergoing treatment at Teku Hospital.
Karki said the Punarbal Plus is assisting children in their treatment but it cannot continue to provide support for long. “We ourselves do not have the problem of survival, but we cannot continue to support the children if we don´t get support from donor agencies,” she added.
Different NGOs have already been sent more than three dozens infected orphans back to their respective villages in March. While Kopila Aashram of Dhangadhi sent back about two dozens children, Nava Kiran Plus too sent some of them back to their relatives.
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