Drug recovery centers: Solution or problem?<\/p>\n
By David and Joyce Djaelani Gordon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Recently, there was an article on page 2 of The
\nJakarta Post. The bold black letters read: "Government to boost
\ncampaign on HIV\/AIDS".<\/p>\n
Jakarta and Irian Jaya were reported, and continue, to have
\nthe highest number of new cases of HIV and AIDS now on a regular
\nbasis.<\/p>\n
Many of the newly infected in and around Jakarta are drug
\nabusers and addicts. If these "reported cases" were more closely
\nexamined, you would find many of those infected with HIV\/AIDS
\nwere also co-infected with hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
We are not just facing one virus and one pandemic. The threat
\nto Indonesians -- mostly drug users and abusers -- nationwide are
\ntwo viruses and two pandemics of HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
Possibly two generations of young Indonesians will be
\ndevastated by these viruses in which hundreds of thousands, or
\nmore, will die over the next two decades.<\/p>\n
A worldwide warning has been issued in the last few years
\nstating that, when the level of HIV\/AIDS positive cases reaches
\nand exceeds 10 percent among drug abusers, the virus then spreads
\nas an unstoppable force.<\/p>\n
At Yayasan Kita Recovery Center and Community, our test
\nresults indicate that, among the drug abusers and addicts in the
\nGreater Jakarta area seeking treatment at our center, over 20
\npercent are HIV\/AIDS positive and 90 percent have hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
Another accepted assessment is: the drug abuse and drug
\naddicted communities, especially the injecting drug users (IDUS),
\nare the number one group (ultra-high risk) for the infection and
\nspread of both the HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C viruses today.<\/p>\n
*Fact: Sharing needles is the easiest way to transmit and
\ncontract either virus!<\/p>\n
Then, in the Post's July 15 edition, the headlines read as
\n"Rehab centers help local drug addicts". This is true as the
\ncenters absolutely do help drug addicts, but most of them are not
\ntesting for the viruses. This is not because they have never
\nheard about the HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C viruses, but the centers
\nhave no idea about what to do if they have an addict who tests
\npositive for HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
*Documented Note: Yayasan Kita has verified that the most
\nprominent drug rehabilitation centers have yet to provide
\ncounseling and testing for their residents. Sometimes they do,
\nbut they don't hold the tests properly or they minimize,
\nmiscommunicate or mask facts and results regarding HIV\/AIDS or
\nhepatitis C.<\/p>\n
Nine treatment and recovery centers -- which all are working
\nwith addicts and well known to the public -- were all
\nconfidentially asked, "if they provided counseling and testing
\nfor HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C".<\/p>\n
The responses varied from "no", "providing testing and some
\ncounseling only when asked" to "HIV\/AIDS can be cured and will
\ncome out in the urine if one has better faith". Some centers even
\nbar addicts with HIV, AIDS and hepatitis from ever entering their
\nCenter.<\/p>\n
The interesting thing about the last comment is: how would
\nthis center even confirm if anyone is HIV or hepatitis C positive
\nwithout a test?<\/p>\n
Most centers are also not informing or counseling addicts who
\ncome into their centers about how to reduce the risks of
\ncontracting HIV and hepatitis. Should you have doubts about what
\nwe are sharing, we encourage you to call some of the
\nrehabilitation and recovery centers yourself.<\/p>\n
Do these centers -- along with their owners, executive boards,
\nmanagement and staff -- have only the vaguest idea about drug
\nabusers and addicts, the recovery process or what the world of
\ndrug addiction actually represents?<\/p>\n
They don't understand how the HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C viruses
\nwill negatively affect any addicts or those in the initial stages
\nof rehabilitation, or provide critical causes for a relapse.<\/p>\n
Proper info<\/p>\n
Without providing proper information and harm reduction
\ncounseling, and being mindful of the high probability of relapse,
\nthese centers and their entire management team and staff are
\nguilty of absolute and lethal negligence, not to mention naivete!<\/p>\n
Any organization, group or individual that has opened, or is
\nconsidering opening any type of recovery or rehabilitation
\ncenter, drop-in or outreach center, drug detoxification center,
\nrecovery aftercare community, or a facility dealing with any form
\nof drug abuse -- dealing with drug awareness, information,
\neducation and outreach -- must realize that it is impossible
\ntoday to speak about the dangers and risks of drug use, abuse,
\naddiction or the process of recovery, without speaking about the
\nHIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C viruses.<\/p>\n
One of the centers, chaired by a medical doctor,
\nconfidentially said that they "would bar anyone with hepatitis B,
\nhepatitis C or HIV from their center".<\/p>\n
Another doctor who owns a center said, "we wait for 6 months,
\nwhile the addict does our recovery program, before any talk or
\ncounseling about HIV even begins."<\/p>\n
This same doctor also admitted, "that only a few addicts, or
\ntheir parents, even asked for a test while the addict was in
\ntreatment, or after the six months".<\/p>\n
Some centers are pretending or denying that these viruses are
\na secondary issue within the recovery process, just like any
\ninfected addict who tries to pretend or deny that education is
\nunimportant to one's intelligence.<\/p>\n
The process of working with drug abusers and addicts is
\ndifficult enough just to begin with, but the process of working
\nwith a drug abuser or addict with HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C is far
\nmore demanding and exceptionally more intense.<\/p>\n
Harm reduction strategies and networks recognize the ultra-
\nimportance today of being able to 'test high risk groups, and
\nhigh risk individuals with confidentiality'. Harm reduction peer
\ncounselors are qualified to give pre and post-test counseling for
\nthose infected and their families.<\/p>\n
Our rehabilitation and recovery centers are harm reduction
\nnetworks just by the nature of what they do and should, in the
\nnear future, become one of our first lines of defense against the
\nspread of HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
If any recovery center or organization admits a drug abuser
\nfor detoxification, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery (all
\nof which are expensive services) but does not counsel and test
\nfor the viruses, even though the center knows how embedded the
\nviruses are within the drug abusing community today, it must be
\nconsidered and held morally and ethically negligent.<\/p>\n
What will happen if an individual relapses and then shares
\nneedles or has unprotected sex after treatment, without ever
\nknowing if he or she is infected with HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C,
\nand infects others like your very own son or daughter?<\/p>\n
Who must be responsible morally and ethically for the new
\ninfections? Who will be responsible for spreading the viruses
\nfurther and faster among unsuspecting individuals and our nation?<\/p>\n
There is no cure for HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C.<\/p>\n
We have little choice left other than to face the truism that
\nthe drug abuse and addicted community is openly exposed to a full
\nblown wildfire situation.<\/p>\n
As the heartbreaking impact of the marriage between drug abuse
\nand HIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C dawns on Indonesians, the fatalities
\namong our young people will accumulate at a rate never seen in
\nthis nation before.<\/p>\n
Detoxification, rehabilitation, treatment and recovery
\ncenters, plus their support and aftercare communities, must
\nassume the responsibility for counseling and testing drug abusers
\nand addicts (and their friends and families, if needed) for
\nHIV\/AIDS and hepatitis C, and provide the necessary support
\nsystem(s) early in the recovery process. The recovery community
\nhas the best and most direct chance to work with those infected,
\nand their families.<\/p>\n
If our recovery centers and recovery community fail to work
\nwith drug abusers and addicts who have HIV\/AIDS or hepatitis C
\nfor whatever reasons, these centers become part of the problem,
\nrather than part of the solution.<\/p>\n
-- The writers are directors of Yayasan Hati Kita.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/drug-recovery-centers-solution-or-problem-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }