Kathmandu: Ignoring social taboos in this conservative nation, a Nepali radio programme on safe sex is spreading awareness against HIV/AIDS and offers life-saving advice to young people who are vulnerable to the disease.
Confined only to a few towns six years ago, 'Chatting with my best friend', a youth-friendly programme about serious day-to-day issues like sexual health and HIV/AIDS, has expanded to cover much of this mountainous nation.
Many Nepalis are now glued to the weekly, hour-long programme. "Initially we got letters complaining against the discussions on use of condoms, sex or sexual organs," Binayak Aryal, a producer for the programme, said.
He said social attitudes had now changed since the programme began in 2001 and it is now aired through 35 hugely popular FM stations as well as the state-run Radio Nepal. "Now there is a change. Even parents and school teachers advise the young people to listen to the programme about sexual health."
Nepal, one of Asia's poorest countries where millions live in remote villages, has long had a conservative attitude to sex. For example, homosexuality is taboo and "unnatural sex", as it is termed by the law, can fetch up to one year in jail.
Hosts of the hour-long programme chat about how injecting drugs and unsafe sex cause HIV and seek to promote the use of condoms for safety in a youth-friendly language.
"It also imparts life skills to the youth dealing with emotion, stress and communicating issues that can't be discussed with parents," said Nirmal Rijal, Nepal unit chief of the San Francisco-based aid group, Equal Access, which produces the programme with UNICEF support.
According to official estimates about 70,000 of the Himalayan nation's 26.4 million people are living with HIV.
Many of them have no access to information about the disease and do not talk about their problems openly in families for fear of being stigmatised in the majority-Hindu nation.
"Any problem or issue can't be solved by pushing it under the carpet," Rijal said. "Without talking, these issues remain a taboo. It is something that needs to be discussed."
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Rijal said his agency received about 1,500 letters every month from listeners who openly write about their problems and ask for remedies. One anonymous listener, who had tested HIV positive, wanted to know whether he should conceal the disease or make it public and how, according to Rijal.
"It talks about different options and ways to communicate their problems but offers no clear-cut solutions," he said of the programme. "The final decision about what to do is up to them."
Some listeners agreed.
"Initially it was embarrassing to listen to the programme in the family. But now I think it is okay because it discusses some of the problems we face in practical life," said Srijana Khatiwada, 27, a university graduate.
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