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Society
Visible but Unseen: Drug
Users in India
by Harsheth Virk
Asked to do a
behavioral survey among intravenous drug users (IDUs) in the Indian
capital, my first thought was: "Where am I going to find them?"
But as anyone who cares to look can see, drug users are right before our
eyes. You meet them everywhere - outside temples, under flyovers, on the
banks of the Yamuna, in the capital's medieval Mughal buildings and so
on.
Despite this evidence, people ask questions like "Do people really
inject drugs? Where do they live? Who are they? Why do they matter?"
Drug users are easy to see but hard to reach because they tend to use
drugs in places where they will not be reached, either by law
enforcement officials or friends and acquaintances who might condemn
them for their addiction.
It is the illicit nature of drug use and its associated stigma that
pushes these people to the fringes - out of the mainstream gaze.
A group of drug users in Bhopal said: "(We) mostly consume drugs near
very dirty places... on those streets where police (do) not reach easily
- from where we run easily. We usually take drugs in (a) narrow pathway
- sometimes people beat us... then we search for another place to
consume drugs."
Contrary to popular belief, most drug users are not homeless. A recent
study done in 24 cities and villages across India found that 95 percent
of them lived at home. Another study in 2005 found that 62 percent of
all drug users were employed. It was also found that most drug users
were men in the 21-40 year age group.
But drug abuse can seriously affect someone's ability to work. Habitual
drug users are likely to lose their jobs and to turn to illegal
activities to sustain their habit.
It is clear that drug abuse matters vitally to the addicts and their
families. But it also matters to everyone else. It matters because drug
users suffer from many illnesses such as abscesses, sexually transmitted
infections, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS. A recent study carried out by the UN
Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) found that nearly one-third of all IDUs
reported an abscess within the last six months.
Everyone has to bear the economic costs of these illnesses, more so when
drug users do not seek treatment on time because of the stigma they face
and because they often cannot afford the cost of treatment.
A group of drug users from Mizoram said: "(We) go for treatment at the
hospital. But ... (we) sometimes felt that government hospital(s)
discriminate (against) drug users ... and use bad language ... If (our)
illness is not severe (we) treat (ourselves) at home, especially when we
have abscess due to drug injecting. But when the abscess is not cured
easily ... (we) go to some NGO for treatment."
The result is that when finally the treatment is carried out, it is more
costly.
Everybody is also at risk of infection spreading from drug users. The
spread of HIV, for instance, can take place through injecting and sexual
networks. Through an infected IDU, HIV can spread to his (or her)
injecting partners.
Sexual networks include people who IDUs have sex with. These could be
regular sex partners, occasional sexual partners and female sex workers.
A HIV positive IDU could pass on the virus to any of these sexual
partners. In the case of female sex workers, HIV can spread to their
clients who in turn can pass it on to their wives and through them to
their unborn children.
What is the solution? Service providers have been working with IDUs to
improve the quality of their lives in many ways and to wean them away
from drug abuse in this manner. There are now treatment centres around
the country, providing drug users with information.
Another novel approach is peer outreach. Drug users who have recovered
go among their friends to provide current drug users with information
and services. These outreach workers know where to find the drug users,
they understand their issues and are able to serve as role models who
prove that recovery is possible.
But the problem is much larger than the current solutions. Right now,
prevention programmes reach only about 5 percent of IDUs in India. The
immediate need is to reach this population with a comprehensive range of
services to drug users and IDUs, in a manner that takes their needs into
consideration.
The good news is that recovery is possible. Injecting drug users are
able to lead healthy, drug free and productive lives, through simple
cost-effective interventions. So this year, as we commemorate June 26 as
the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, we can
promise ourselves that there is no place for drugs in our lives and
communities.
(Harsheth Virk works in the United
Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in New Delhi. She can be
reached at harsheth.virk@unodc.org)
June 24, 2007
Read Also :
Drugs Like Ecstasy
'Emerging Threat' to India: UN by Sahil Makkar
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