Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jul 2004
Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2004
Contact:  http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/39
Author:  Apiradee Treerutkuarkul

HUMANE POLICIES FOR DRUG USERS CALLED FOR

Participants Sick Of Broken Promises

Thai community leaders have demanded the government adopt more humane 
policies to help intravenous drug users suffering from HIV/Aids infections.

In his final words to the 15th International Aids Conference, Paisan 
Suwannawong, a key member of the Thai Drug Users Network, said it was time 
the government introduced comprehensive programmes and brought changes to 
its "repressive" policies against Aids sufferers."We only offer them the 
choice of prison or military-run rehabilitation centres. Is this harm 
reduction or harm production?" he asked.

Mr Paisan said the government had made no real effort to treat drug users 
on par with other patients, saying injecting drug users were the only group 
where HIV infection rates had never changed over the past 10 years.

Mr Paisan said discrimination was no small thing for people living with the 
virus and attending the conference. They were invited to speak at some 
events but had not been given time to speak. Some delegates were also 
stopped and questioned because they were tattooed and perceived to be drug 
users.

An alliance of Aids activists said they would keep an eye on Prime Minister 
Thaksin Shinawatra to see whether he upheld his promise to end 
discrimination against injecting drug users. "We are tired of broken 
promises," he said.

The prime minister pledged during the opening ceremony on Monday to 
implement a harm reduction programme.

Senator Mechai Veravaidya said it was time the government, especially the 
prime minister and Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, took the 
matter of intravenous drug users more seriously and came up with a better 
harm-reduction project.

The government could no longer waste time to combat the virus prevalent in 
this maginalised group as it posed a grave threat to the whole population, 
Mr Mechai said.

The issue was spotlighted during the conference with a call for clean 
needles and methadone for infected drug users.

Andrew Ball, a World Health Organisation official in charge of the HIV/Aids 
Prevention Department, said the agency supported the idea and was in the 
process of putting methadone and clean needles on its essential drugs list.
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MAP posted-by: Beth