In Nepal, various programes were organized to create awareness on the preventive aspects of HIV on the occasion of the 22nd World AIDS Day on Tuesday. In a message on the occasion of the World AIDS Day, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal urged all stake holders to launch extensive awareness programmes to control the spread of HIV. Different national and international NGOs working in the field of HIV/AIDS, civil society members and students took out a rally in Kathmandu on Tuesday which was flagged off by the Health Minister Uma Kant Chaudhury.Maiti Nepal, an NGO fighting against women and child trafficking, organized a candle light prayer meeting in Kathmandu last evening in memory of those killed due to AIDS and to remove social stigma attached with the disease.According to official statistics, there are about 14,500 HIV infected people in Nepal. Among them nearly 2500 have AIDS. However, organizations working in this sector say the number of HIV infected people could be at least four times more than the official figure.