Pubdate: Thu, 8 Jun 2004 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2004 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 Author: Arthit Khwankhom Cited: International Harm Reduction Association http://www.ihra.net/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Thailand Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) XV International AIDS Conference: HIV RATE AMONG DRUG USERS STILL NEAR 50% Despite some remarkable successes in driving down the overall HIV infection rate, it is undeniable that Thailand has at times failed to control the epidemic's spread among injecting drug users. The infection rate among these users has been hovering as high as over 50 per cent in spite of the government's aggressive war on drugs over the past couple of years. One reason may be because antidrug campaigns, mainly targeted at wiping out methamphetamines, have had the adverse affect of driving addicts to switch to injection drugs such as heroin. The Narcotics Control Board conceded the number of intravenous drug users had slightly increased as a result of the drug war. "It was totally wrong the way the government forced drug users to completely quit via the boot camp rehabilitation programme provided by the Army, which does not specialise in substance abuse rehabilitation," said Paisarn Tanud of the Thai Drug Users Network. "The drug problem is like [the problem of teenage casual] sex...it never ever works to simply make them say no," he said, adding that such campaigns simply drive addicts underground. The best way to reach out to these populations is by avoiding driving them under ground, said Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids. This method, known as the harm reduction approach, has proven successful in many countries fighting both drug abuse and HIV spread, said Paisarn. The government has said many times Thailand will initiate harmreduction programmes to control HIV among injecting drug users, but these words have never been translated into action, wrote Dr Alex Wodex, the former president of the International Harm Reduction Association, in an email to The Nation. The government's recent commitment to harmreduction programmes would be judged by the outcome of such projects, he said. Paisarn said the decision to adopt harm reduction measures in Thailand was made recently as a result of persistent pressure from the United Nations coinciding with next week's International Aids Conference. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake