Kathmandu, July 7:

Minister of State for Health and Population Sashi Thapa said today that reproductive health of women should be guaranteed to control HIV/AIDS.

Youths should be mobilised to deal with AIDS-related problems, she said. Addressing the closing session of the National AIDS Conference, she said aspirations of all should be reflected on the new constitution.

The conference decided to work for the groups at higher risk, including intravenous drug users, commercial sex workers and their clients, men having sex with men, migrant labours and their spouses. It also decided to work for the children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

“Participants brought to light several facets of AIDS,” said Dr Padma Bahadur Chand of the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control. Participants demanded that AIDS be declared a national problem. They said their efforts to persuade political parties to recognise AIDS as a national problem and have it included in their manifestos failed.

They said that the government should have appointed an AIDS patient as a member of the Constituent Assembly.