Clean needles seen as vital to curb HIV/AIDS

Clean needles seen as vital to curb HIV/AIDS

JAKARTA (JP): The national drive against the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS) took a controversial step forward with activists
pushing for easy access to clean needles for intravenous drug
users (IDUs).

Citing the increasing number of drug users contracting
HIV/AIDS, Yustina Rostiawati from the Atma Jaya University in
Jakarta maintained that providing cheap needles could help to
control the spread of the disease.

"Experience around the world has shown that once more than 10
percent of IDUs in any community are infected with HIV, in the
absence of any extreme intervention the rate usually exceeds 50
percent within a year," Yustina said during a seminar on Tuesday.

A survey conducted by the university in eight major cities in
the country -- Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan and
Makassar -- from April to August this year revealed that most of
the users were already aware of the dangers of exchanging needles
and the risks of contracting AIDS.

The survey was jointly sponsored by the now defunct
Coordinating Minister for Welfare and Poverty Eradication Office,
as well as USAID, Ausaid, WHO, UNAIDS and the Ford Foundation.

Another study showed that up to 30 percent of IDUs in Jakarta
have been infected with HIV, with most of the cases resulting
from the sharing of needles.

Djoko Prayitno of the Commission for AIDS Handling (KPA), who
also spoke at the seminar, reiterated the dangers of sharing
needles and also mentioned the added risk of IDUs who have
contracted the virus spreading it further through sexual
intercourse.

"It's too late to prevent these people (addicts) from using
drugs, so we have to take concrete steps," Djoko, a retired
police general who studied narcotics at MacFarlene Burnel Medical
Research center in Melbourne, said.

The country is a home to around two million drug users but
only around 800 of them are receiving proper treatment at
facilities such as the Drug Dependency Hospital (RSKO), he added.

Yustina said another way to curb the growth of HIV among drug
addicts was to encourage IDUs to stop injecting, usually by
providing alternatives such as methadone, a cheap liquid drug
which is taken orally.

"For those who are not ready to change to methadone, providing
easy and cheap access to clean needles is the most effective
solution," Yustina said.

Both Djoko and Yustina admitted that liberating the access to
needles can be controversial.

"The government can choose either to save a generation from
incurable diseases such as HIV and AIDS by reducing the harmful
effects of drug use or simply let it spread through addicts,
whose hidden population is believed to be far more than two
million," Yustina warned.

Djoko said it was almost impossible to eradicate drugs and HIV
and AIDS simply by expounding morals or through a security
approach.

"We cannot pass the responsibility to teachers or preachers.
Not only do they know little about drugs, they spare very limited
time for children. While the law enforcers are only busy catching
the users or dealers and treating them as criminals," he said.

He said greater coordination among parties involved in the
anti-HIV campaign and its action plan is an issue soon to be
taken up by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The Ministry of Health found 214 new cases of HIV and AIDS at
the end of May, bringing the total number of those carrying the
virus in the country to 1,257. UNAIDS, however, predicts the
figure may soon reach 52,000. (edt)