The street children are also vulnerable to HIV/Aids, although no children were found HIV positive during a survey in Dhaka from December 2002 to March 2004.

The Aporajeo Bangladesh, a non-government organisation, conducted the survey on 3,989 street children and found that 55 of them are suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. Among them, nine had the symptoms of syphilis and 22 of gonorrhoea while nine others had genital sores.

A baseline survey conducted by the World Vision Bangladesh in 2000 revealed that the street children are not aware of HIV/Aids.

Its workers spoke to 247 children and found that 168 had no idea about the disease. Only a few of them have heard of it from television campaigns, relatives and friends. Some of them also know about it from posters.

The survey also found that many of them were suffering from fever, diarrhoea, chicken pox, measles, jaundice, scabies, asthma and gastric pains.

According to a BIDS survey conducted in 11 districts of the country in 2004, there are a total of 6,74,178 children living on the streets. It also said that the number would increase three-fold in the next 10 to 20 years.

The Social Welfare Department is working with nine NGOs to provide direct service for the street children under a pilot project funded by the UNDP.

But a budget shortage is hampering the project activities, said Senior Deputy Director and Coordinator Mizanur Rahman.

Two years ago, the Appropriate Resources for Improving Street Children's Environment (Arise), the UNDP-funded project, suggested to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to formulate a separate policy for the street children, but the ministry appears to have no interest in it, he said.

Different NGOs are working for the welfare of street children, providing health services, educational facilities and legal aid for them. Two paramedics from each NGO are engaged in healthcare service.

But in most cases the quality of their service is not up to the mark, said Mizanur Rahman.

However, the cases of STD are declining as the number of slums in the city has declined, he added.

Project sources mentioned some obstacles to carrying out activities for the welfare of the street children, such as poor budgetary allocation for shelter home, food, health services, recreational activities and vocational training. The absence of female paramedics is also a hindrance.

The Padakkhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra, a drop-in centre in the city, conducted a survey among 6,275 boys and 3,380 girls who came to the centre during the period between March 2001 and June 2005. It found that a total of 1749 boys and 683 girls have scabies.

Scabies is the most common disease among the street children. The other prevalent diseases included diarrhoea, fever, vitamin deficiency, gastric pain, ENT problems, accident injury, common cold and infection, said Syeda Samia Sultana, an official of Padakkhep.

Meanwhile, the tenure of UNDP-funded project has been extended for five more years in its second phase to help the ill-fated street children.