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| LAST UPDATE: Wednesday, 1 July, 1998 01:13 GMT H A R M R E D U C T I O N ...all the news, as it happens | ||
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| LAST UPDATE: Wednesday, 1 July, 1998 01:13 GMT H A R M R E D U C T I O N ...all the news, as it happens | ||
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| HARM REDUCTION FOR IDU's: COMMUNITY, FAMILY SUPPORT KEY | ||
| Session C36 later today will discuss the
roles and challenges of community-level HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention initiatives for
injecting drug users (IDUs) in Lithuania and Bangladesh. "Over the past five years, the number of IDUs in Klaipeda, Lithuania, has grown rapidly," said psychiatrist Alexandras Slatvickis, head of the city’s Addiction Treatment Centre. A methadone maintenance treatment programme was set up in 1995, but when the first HIV-infected IDU was identified in September 1996, it was clear that a more direct approach was needed to control the spread of HIV-AIDS, Slatvickis told The Bridge. The city’s first drop-in centre for IDUs opened in May 1997, offering anonymous needle exchange, counselling on safe drug use, safe sexual behaviour and HIV/AIDS, and distribution of condoms and information leaflets. The centre is staffed by three former IDUs, who are now drug-free and work as counsellors. Today, there are 35 registered HIV-infected IDUs in Klaipeda, compared to almost 2,000 in Kaliningrad, Russia, the neighbouring region to the south. Although it is still too early to measure the programme’s success, said Slatvickis, it is being very well received by local IDUs. |
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Rajshahi, Bangladesh, an urban area near the
Indian border, has also been battling HIV/AIDS among its IDUs. Here, the problem has been
compounded by a lack of community support and educational programmes, cultural stigmas
towards IDUs and proximity to the Indian border, where drugs are easily available and
cheaper. In 1996, HIV/AIDS STD Activities in Bangladesh (HASAB) redesigned a traditional detox programme by providing support to SHEASS, an educational centre addressing the community’s needs. The centre now offers community outreach to IDUs and their families, needle exchange, condom distribution, and treatment for STDs and injection-related infections. "It is essential to incorporate the whole community to make them aware of IDUs, change their attitudes and gain their support," Mahbooba Akhter Kabita, social worker and HASAB Programme Coordinator, said in an interview. "Now that the community recognises they need its help, they work to keep it running," she said, although there are still obstacles: "Our clients are primarily men. Women aren’t likely to come forward due to social stigma." IDUs within the community are often ostracised, but "women in particular are very discriminated against in our culture."
this story can also be found in The Bridge, the onsite print newspaper |
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