Can methadone help win the fight against HIV?<\/p>\n
Santi W.E. Soekanto, Journalist, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
\"I am exhausted,\" a gaunt man in his late 30s said quietly. For
\nthe past 16 years he has been on the roughest ride imaginable,
\ngetting on the wagon headed for sanity only to fall off again and
\nagain into a heroin-induced abyss.<\/p>\n
He has been merely existing between the intense pain that
\nflares up inside him to get the fix he needs from shooting heroin
\ninto his veins and the brief respite before the pain again
\nbecomes intolerable.<\/p>\n
In early February, an anti-AIDS activist here informed him
\nabout a new project sponsored by some UN agencies campaigning
\nagainst the spread of HIV through the sharing of unsterilized
\nneedles among heroin users. Desperate for help, he went to a
\nsmall, neat, white-washed clinic at Sanglah Hospital where other
\ndrug users were being given methadone -- a substitute for heroin,
\nwhich is expected to reduce the risk of HIV as it is given
\norally.<\/p>\n
\"I only want to be cured. I have been taking heroin for years
\nonly to blot out the pain -- we don't get anything out of it. Are
\nwe afraid of HIV? When we need a fix, we aren't afraid of
\nanything. HIV is the last thing on our mind,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Several sessions at the methadone clinic succeeded in
\nintroducing a semblance of stability into his life. Then, he
\nbegan to have fears. \"Only when we sobered up did we think about
\nthe fears; fear of the police, of getting HIV. How can I know for
\nsure that I am not already infected with it?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another younger drug user, nodded vigorously in agreement. \"I
\nhave been an addict for ten years. I have tried everything and
\ngone everywhere to try and stop this addiction,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I've been on methadone for two weeks and I already feel a
\ndifference. Already the pain of withdrawal has lessened. I still
\nfeel the urge to inject, but (it's) much less now as I have been
\nkeeping myself busy by doing exercises.\"<\/p>\n
Yet another drug user said: \"Methadone has helped me by
\nintroducing a period of rest into my life, and only now am I
\nscared to hell of AIDS because for years I have shared needles
\nwith my friends.\"<\/p>\n
The men, who requested anonymity, were among a group of drug
\nusers who met with a visiting team of doctors and experts from
\nthe World Health Organization (WHO) Indonesia, Sanglah Hospital
\nand other health facilities who shared a concern about the
\nrapidity with which HIV was spreading in the country among
\ninjecting drug users (IDUs).<\/p>\n
The project mentioned by the men was the methadone maintenance
\ntreatment (MMT) in Bali and Jakarta. The concept is harm
\nreduction, a fairly new approach to curbing the HIV epidemic that
\nis now replacing other approaches, namely supply reduction and
\ndemand reduction.<\/p>\n
\"The supply reduction approach has proven to be not so
\nsuccessful, whereas the demand reduction approach, which
\nconcentrates on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, too,
\nhas not fared as well as we wished,\" Dr. Satya Joewana, a
\npsychiatrist at the Atma Jaya University Medical School, told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"Studies of those approaches have shown that many drug abusers
\ntend to relapse again and again,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Our main concern is that drug addicts are the main tool for
\nthe spread of HIV. More people today are infected through needle
\nsharing than through sexual transmission.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/can-methadone-help-win-the-fight-against-hiv-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}