Kathmandu, May 6:

People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) said today they will forge an alliance with donors and district-level government bodies to put pressure on the government to meet their nine-point demand if the government continues to ignore them.

Urging the government to meet the nine-point demand, over 100 people from 20 organisations of HIV-infected people and drug users have been staging a sit-in inside the Teku-based Department of Health Services since Thursday. Their demands include a separate ward for the HIV-infected in every regional hospital, free treatment for poor HIV-infected people and jobs for them. Rajiv Kafle, president, National Association of People Living With AIDS, said, the PLWHA will hold talks with donors from tomorrow and seek support for their cause.

“We cannot tolerate the government’s irresponsible behaviour. Fourteen HIV-infected people died in 19 days at the Sukraraj Tropical Disease Hospital for want of treatment,” Sibu Giri, adviser, Advocacy Task Force, said.