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Contributed by Ms. Lipi Chowdhury, Project Associate,
Project : RAS/H13 - Prevention of transmission of HIV among drug users in SAARC countries
Date : 25 June 2008
Venue: Conference Hall, UNDP, New Delhi, India
Mr.Oscar Fernandes, Convenor of the Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS and Union Minister for Labour and Employment
The Rapid Situation and Response Assessment (RSRA) conducted by "Project RAS/H13: Prevention of transmission of HIV among drug users in SAARC countries", aimed to assess the HIV related risk behaviors, adverse health consequences and knowledge, attitudes relating to HIV/AIDS amongst drug users and their regular sexual partners in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The RSRA demonstrated that it is possible to reach out to the hidden populations of drug users as well as their regular sexual partners.
The draft findings of the RSRA have been used in various forums and helped in designing local level interventions and establishing priority areas for harm reduction interventions. An article has also been published on findings on the
female regular sexual partners of drug users
and has been shared in the International Journal of Drug Policy. Even though this data has been shared at different meetings, UNODC felt that it would be useful to capture the process and methodology of this work in a report.
Dr. Suresh Kumar, the Principal Author of the RSRA report, was requested to finalise it, which was formally released on 25 June 2008, at Conference Hall, UNDP, New Delhi, India.
Proceedings of the release of the
RSRA report :
Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Convenor of the Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS and Union Minister for Labour and Employment, formally released the report
(Video) .
Mr. Oscar Fernandes expressed his sincere gratitude and appreciation for the services of the UNODC towards bringing together different UN agencies, governments and civil society partners for fighting the menace of drug abuse. He emphasized that the scourge of HIV/AIDS is the biggest challenge for humanity today and the problems of trafficking, especially among the younger generation. In the border areas, specially in colleges and universities, drugs are used more frequently and unless we make our youth understand that their entire future is at stake-because a bleak youth of the future does not augur well for the country. Mr. Fernandes appealed to the youth of the country to desist from drug abuse. He applauded UNODC for bringing out this report which was informative, comprehensive and which will prove to be an important tool to fight this menace.
The RSRA was conducted over a three-month period (June-August 2005) in the four countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The RSRA in Bhutan was carried out in May 2006. Mentor agencies were identified in these five countries and were given the responsibility of identifying and coordinating with the partner Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Forty NGO partners were involved in the RSRA (India: 24; Nepal: 6; Bangladesh: 5; Sri Lanka: 4; and, Bhutan: 1). Overall, the RSRA reached 9,465 current drug users (India: 5,800; Nepal:1,330; Bangladesh: 1,090; Sri Lanka: 1,045; and Bhutan: 200) and 4,612 of their female regular sex partners (India: 3,328; Sri Lanka: 708; Nepal: 417; Bangladesh: 136; and Bhutan: 23) for the assessment.
Mr. Rajiv Chandran, Officer-in-Charge, UNIC read out the message from
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
. In this message, the UN Secretary General urged Member States to work to reduce the vulnerability to drugs. He also called upon Member States to ensure that people who are struggling with drug addiction be given equal access to health and social services. The UN Secretary General concluded his message urging all Member States to shoulder the responsibility to prevent and reduce the damage that drugs do, and build a healthier and safer world.
Ms. Ashita Mittal, Officer-in-Charge, UNODC, ROSA delivered the welcome address wherein she mentioned that the report does not have only academic value, but is being used as a tool by respective governments to formulate HIV prevention strategies and programmes based on the recommendations contained in the report. She spoke about various projects supported by UNODC specifically the "I Decide" campaign involving school children against drug abuse. She announced that the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka will formally launch the "I Decide" campaign on June 26 2008. Ms. Mittal called upon everyone to join the mission against drug abuse and HIV.
Dr.
Denis Broun addressing the audience
Dr. Denis Broun, UNAIDS Country Coordinator, referred to the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, which mentions that injecting drug use is an important factor in the HIV epidemic. He mentioned that injecting drug users do not merely use prohibited narcotics, but are increasing using illicit pharmaceutical drugs. Dr. Broun commended the National AIDS Control Organization, India on being fully cognizant of the problem and taking appropriate steps to deal with the same. He emphasized the importance of education on "Harm Reduction" that has two components - using clean injectable material and/ or Oral Substitution Therapy. He assured that the UN agencies are extending the much needed assistance and support to the government and the civil society partners in dealing with the problem of drugs and HIV. He further acknowledged the work done by the government in dealing with drug abuse, especially with respect to Harm Reduction. Dr. Broun concluded by commending the UNODC efforts in bringing out such a report, which will itself go a long way in dealing with the issues of drugs and HIV.
Finally,
Dr. Suresh Kumar, Principal Author RSRA, made a presentation and highlighted the background/ rationale for the report, the salient findings, the methodology used and the recommendations for the future.
The event was well attended with extensive representation from TV channels, national and international wire agencies and national dailies. Media such as NDTV, CNN-IBN, Loksabha TV, Amrita TV, Kairali TV,
AsiaNet, Sahara Samay, India Vision, PTI, UNI, Malaysian National News Agency and Hindustan Times among others were present. Journalists from Business Outlook, Asian Age, Indian Express,
Assam Tribune, Asomiya Pratidin News and New Indian Express were also present.
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