The sharing of needles and syringes and other injecting paraphernalia among injecting drug users (IDUs) is one of the major causes of HIV transmission in many countries in South East Asia. Without an effective prevention strategy, the number of HIV cases in Asia will rise dramatically.
The failure to address HIV transmission among, and from, IDUs has limited the overall effectiveness of HIV prevention strategies in these countries, and has also increased sexual transmission of HIV to the general community. Without stopping the spread of HIV among IDUs and their sexual partners, we will not stop the AIDS epidemic.
A harm reduction approach
Globally, the emergence and rapid spread of HIV among IDUs has necessitated the development of effective strategies to address these epidemics. The most effective strategies come together under the name "harm reduction".
Harm reduction refers to policies, programs and practices that aim to reduce the harms associated with the use of psychoactive drugs in people unable or unwilling to stop. The defining features are the focus on the prevention of harm, rather than on the prevention of drug use itself, and the focus on people who continue to use drugs (IHRA 2009).
Principles of harm reduction
Based on a strong commitment to public health and human rights, a harm reduction approach to drugs targets the causes of risks and harms. In order to identify specific harms and appropriate interventions, a full assessment of the problem is needed. Harm reduction interventions must take into account other factors that may render people who use drugs particularly vulnerable including age, gender and incarceration. |