17 persons die of AIDS in eastern Nepal town

At least 17 people have died of HIV/AIDS in Nepal's Dharan town over the past nine months, an NGO working in the field claimed.

At least 17 people have died of HIV/AIDS in eastern Nepal's Dharan town over the past nine months, an NGO working in the field claimed on Monday.

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Fourteen of those killed are men and the rest are women, said Naresh Shrestha, president of the NGO, Dharan Positive.

An equal number of people who are out of the organisation's contact might have died during the period, Shrestha was quoted as saying by the state-run The Rising Nepal.

Twenty-six HIV infected people died in 2005, Shrestha said adding many are hiding the disease due to social stigma.