Painkiller part of UN arsenal against HIV | World News - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Painkiller part of UN arsenal against HIV

Hindustan Times | By, Colombo
Aug 22, 2007 03:23 AM IST

Buprenorphine is the newest weapon in South Asia’s fight against HIV/AIDS, reports Sanchita Sharma.

Buprenorphine, an opiate medicine used to treat severe pain, is the newest weapon in South Asia’s fight against HIV/AIDS.

HT Image
HT Image


Injecting drug users (IDUs) can now walk into one of Delhi’s five centres and ask for buprenorphine, an opiate that reduces drug cravings and helps users give up or reduce injecting use, which raises the risk of HIV because of shared needles and syringes. Injecting drug use accounts for just 2 per cent of HIV infection.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.


“Oral substitution treatment is an effective, safe and cost-effective method for the management of opioid dependence and must be integrated with other HIV prevention and treatment We plan to scale up and introduce it in 15 centres,” says Gary Lewis, Representative, UNODC Regional Office for South Asia, at the launch of a joint UNAIDS, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to expand HIV prevention services to injecting drug users in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.



Following a successful multi-centric pilot study in 225 drug users in Delhi by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the initiative will scale up operations to reduce the spread of HIV among drug users and their partners by use of drug substitution treatment, encouraging safer practices such as using clean needles and syringes, condom use and voluntary HIV counselling and testing.



“Injecting drug has fuelled the spread of HIV in several South Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Injecting drug use, is not only rising steadily in the north east states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal because of the porous borders with heroin-producing Afghanistan and Myanmar, but also in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi," says JVR Prasada Rao, director, Asia Pacific regional support team, UNAIDS.

Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real-time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away! - Login Now!

Get Latest World News along with Latest News from India at Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    author-default-90x90

    Sanchita is the health & science editor of the Hindustan Times. She has been reporting and writing on public health policy, health and nutrition for close to two decades. She is an International Reporting Project fellow from Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and was part of the expert group that drafted the Press Council of India’s media guidelines on health reporting, including reporting on people living with HIV.

SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On