Hello Mark,

Mark>>I have set the HS fuse<<

Mark, I know I sound like a broken Record, but I think Melanie has hit it on the head. Your ability to "turn on" the circuit by touching, is a extremely good sign of a floating MCLR pin. Also improper grounding and sourcing.

Have you set the MCLR fuse to "input", every time you programmed your chip? I have not checked the DataSheet, but if your chip as a internal Clock, try it with the internal clock.

And like Melanie said... Make SURE your grounds are grounded and your sources are to 5 volts!.

Dwayne