Aside from the rallies, a number of seminars and AIDS-awareness programmes were also held in major centres, officials said.

"The Maoist insurgency has caused a massive increase in the number of displaced persons and refugees, thereby contributing to the propagation of AIDS," said Bhaktendra Dhoj Khatri, an expert on sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS control.

The rebels have been fighting to topple the monarchy and install a communist republic since 1996 in the impoverished kingdom sandwiched between China and India.

They have spurned repeated government offers for talks to end the conflict which has claimed more than 10,000 lives.

Another health expert, Dr Bijaya Lal, said the porous border between Nepal and India and the fact that more than half a million Nepalese are working in the Middle East and in India -- where they become infected -- are also contributing to the spread of the disease.

Other health workers said factors such as poverty, gender inequality, low levels of education and illiteracy contributed to the spread of the disease.

The National Center for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS Control (NCSAC) said altogether 4,354 people -- 3,190 males and 1,164 females -- have tested positive for HIV in Nepal.

"At least 226 people have died due to AIDS in the country as of October this year," it said.

Other experts said AIDS cases are under-reported in the Himalayan kingdom and that the official figures are far lower than the ground reality.