DRUG INJECTORS ARE MOST PRONE FOR HIV /AIDS INFECTION
PROF.DRRAM ,HIV/AIDS,SEX DISEASES,SEX WEAKNESS & ABORTION SPECIALIST
profdrram@gmail.com,+917838059592,+919832025033 DELHI –NCR,INDIA
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India has achieved a reduction in overall HIV infections, but injecting drug users remain one of the most vulnerable groups in the country as far as contracting HIV/AIDS is concerned, said a report.According to the latest report by the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), while HIV prevalence in India among the general population stands at 0.40 percent, HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs is as high as 7.17 percent.
Experts put the blame for the high figure in India on the poor background of drug users as well as the draconian Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which criminalises the drug user along with peddlers.‘People who inject drugs face widespread discrimination, physical violence, hostility and harassment at social, medical and legal levels. This drives them away from availing services which can prevent at least the transmission of HIV/AIDS,’ said Francis Joseph, programme officer of the ‘Hridaya’ project being run by the India HIV/AIDS Alliance under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP)- III. ‘Some changes are needed in the law. It needs to be mellowed down, especially as far as drug users are concerned,’ Joseph told IANS.Drug injectors are marginalised and criminalised and pushed into risky behaviour,’ he said.
He said among all sections who are at risk of contracting HIV, injecting drug users are the most vulnerable as the transmission of HIV is fastest through the route of shared needles and syringes as most are very poor,so NEEDLE exchange PROGRAMME is best by NCO to curtail it.‘In Manipur and Nagaland for example, there is high involvement of former drug users in such programmes,’ he said, adding efforts should be made to make the target population come out in the open.
The Hridaya programme, for example, helps build the capacity of service providers, makes harm reduction programmes more gender-responsive, improves access to services and advocates the rights of people who inject drugs.According to recent NACO data, India has demonstrated an overall reduction of 57 percent in estimated annual new HIV infections (among adult population) from 0.274 million in 2000 to 0.116 million in 2011. The estimated number of people living with HIV was 2.08 million in 2011.According to the World Health Organisation, 34 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in the world in 2011.
PROF.DRRAM ,HIV/AIDS,SEX DISEASES,SEX WEAKNESS & ABORTION SPECIALIST
profdrram@gmail.com,+917838059592,+919832025033 DELHI –NCR,INDIA
FOLLOW ON FACE BOOK:www.facebook.com/drramkumar
FOLLOW ON TWITTER:www.twitter.com/profdrram
India has achieved a reduction in overall HIV infections, but injecting drug users remain one of the most vulnerable groups in the country as far as contracting HIV/AIDS is concerned, said a report.According to the latest report by the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), while HIV prevalence in India among the general population stands at 0.40 percent, HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs is as high as 7.17 percent.
Experts put the blame for the high figure in India on the poor background of drug users as well as the draconian Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which criminalises the drug user along with peddlers.‘People who inject drugs face widespread discrimination, physical violence, hostility and harassment at social, medical and legal levels. This drives them away from availing services which can prevent at least the transmission of HIV/AIDS,’ said Francis Joseph, programme officer of the ‘Hridaya’ project being run by the India HIV/AIDS Alliance under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP)- III. ‘Some changes are needed in the law. It needs to be mellowed down, especially as far as drug users are concerned,’ Joseph told IANS.Drug injectors are marginalised and criminalised and pushed into risky behaviour,’ he said.
He said among all sections who are at risk of contracting HIV, injecting drug users are the most vulnerable as the transmission of HIV is fastest through the route of shared needles and syringes as most are very poor,so NEEDLE exchange PROGRAMME is best by NCO to curtail it.‘In Manipur and Nagaland for example, there is high involvement of former drug users in such programmes,’ he said, adding efforts should be made to make the target population come out in the open.
The Hridaya programme, for example, helps build the capacity of service providers, makes harm reduction programmes more gender-responsive, improves access to services and advocates the rights of people who inject drugs.According to recent NACO data, India has demonstrated an overall reduction of 57 percent in estimated annual new HIV infections (among adult population) from 0.274 million in 2000 to 0.116 million in 2011. The estimated number of people living with HIV was 2.08 million in 2011.According to the World Health Organisation, 34 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in the world in 2011.
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