Bangkok AIDS Conference

 

Thai Drug Users Network



The Thai Drug Users Network distributed clean syringes at the Conference




WE DEMAND THAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT
AND ALL COUNTRIES:

1.. Eliminate the policies that promote violence in addressing drug issues. In Thailand, the government must investigate each case of murder or other gross negative consequence following the government's announcement of its war on drugs.

2.. Promote educational campaigns about drugs and drug use that provide comprehensive and factual information. This will result in a well-informed public and not cause drug users to be reviled and discriminated against by society.

3.. Rescind any law or policy that violates or leads to the violation of drug users' human rights, such as mandatory HIV-antibody testing, exclusion from antiretroviral therapy access for HIV-positive drug users, etc.

4.. Urgently implement programs that aim to reduce the dangers associated with drug use, and provide information to prevent the spread of HIV among drug users. Establish programs to make clean needles and syringes available, which will reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis among injectors.

5.. Cover costs related to prevention, care and treatment for drug users, including rehabilitation, detoxification, and substitution therapy, under the national health care plan.

6.. Involve both active and former drug users at all levels to address drug-related problems, including policy development.

CLEAN NEEDLES – METHADONE – ARV TREATMENT

FACT :  HARM REDUCTION WORKS

TAKE ACTION TO ADDRESS THE HIV EPIDEMIC AMONG INJECTING DRUG USERS (IDUs)


FACT: One out of three new infections outside of Africa is IDU related. The fastest growing epidemic in the world today is in Eastern Europe and central Asia. This epidemic is fueled by injection drug use, yet in these countries syringe exchange and comprehensive harm reduction programs remain out of reach to the vast majority of drug users who need them.

FACT: Needle exchange programs drastically reduce the spread of HIV among injecting drug users and their partners. Russia has introduced harm reduction policies at the national level.

FACT: In 2003, 2,275 drug suspects were shot and killed an estimated during a three month period in Thailands brutal, ongoing war on drug users

FACT: HIV prevalence among Thai injectors has stood at 40 percent or more since the late 1980s, in contrast to the declining rates among others at high risk

FACT: As of mid-2002, methadone therapy was banned in nine countries representing 80 percent of the HIV-positive injection drug users in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

FACT: WHO and UNAIDS claim that they support substitution treatment for opiate addicts. Methadone is among the best and cheapest substitution treatments. Despite this, it remains classified by the CND as one of the most dangerous and strictly controlled drugs, effectively obstructing its use as an HIV prevention and drug treatment tool in many countries

FACT: HIV prevalence among IDUs in Vietnam is over 70%. In Manipur, prevalence is 70% for IDUS and 50% for their sexual partners


TDN
 Thai Drug Users Network
A grassroots organization that promotes the dignity and human rights of people who use drugs






 

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