Taking a step towards checking HIV/AIDS among Injecting Drug Users

Substance abuse is one of the most common problems among a good percentage of youngsters in India. The use of psychoactive substances is causing significant health and social problems not only to people who use drugs but also in equal parts to their families and the community at large. Substance abuse includes alcohol, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, and hallucinogens among others. The use of these adversely affects the mental as well as physical health of people.

Substance abuse can be much more hazardous and fatal than we imagine. Apart from having a detrimental effect on almost every organ in the human body, the syringe shared for injecting drugs can increase the vulnerability of HIV and other infections by a substantial amount among Injecting Drug Users (IDU). 16 million people are injecting drugs globally and around 3 million among them are living with HIV/AIDS. IDUs have emerged as a group with a high risk of contracting HIV infection and other blood-borne viruses in India. 0.05% of male aged 15-49 years in India inject drugs for nonmedical purposes. HIV prevalence among IDUs stands at 6.26%, making it the highest among High-Risk Group as per the 2017 HIV Sentinel Surveillance report.

National AIDS Control Organization estimated 2 Lakh population of IDUs in India. According to the sentinel surveillance conducted by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) in 2017; HIV prevalence among IDUs is 6.26%, which is, unfortunately, one of the highest among the High-Risk Groups in India. There are many pockets of IDUs where the prevalence of HIV is more than 10-15%.

Madhya Pradesh has an HIV prevalence of 5.33% among IDU. The State AIDS Control Society has a coverage of more than 6000 Injecting Drug Users in Madhya Pradesh, majorly in Bhopal, Jabalpur, Narsingpur, Rewa, Sidhi, Satna, Panna, and Hoshangabad. Madhya Pradesh State AIDS Control Society is implementing 12 Opioid Substitution therapy centres in the Govt. District Hospital & Medical Colleges to provide treatment injecting drug users. At present 1020 IDUs are taking medicine on a daily basis. This supports a lot of improvement in their lifestyle.

As a conscious society, it is our collective responsibility to inform youths about the consequences that sharing syringe for taking drugs can lead to. In a bid to spread awareness on the issue, Madhya Pradesh State Aids Control Society, in association with MP MyGov is inviting people to share their valuable suggestions on ways IDUs can be informed and the spread of HIV/AIDS can be checked in the state. Your suggestion can save lives.

For more information, click the link below:
https://mp.mygov.in/sites/default/files/mygov_15614526581581.pdf