Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | NE women drug users unaware of perils -Roopak Goswami

NE women drug users unaware of perils -Roopak Goswami

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Mar 26, 2015   modified Modified on Mar 26, 2015
-The Telegraph

Guwahati: A survey on women drug users in the Northeast has found that a majority of them were unaware of the perils of sharing needles to inject drugs.

The study was commissioned by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under its regional initiative. Termed Prevention of Transmission of HIV Amongst Drug Users in SAARC Countries, the initiative was in response to the gap of knowledge regarding women and drugs use, including drug-use patterns, adverse consequences related to drug-use and impediments in accessing community-based services for women who use drugs. This is the first comprehensive study of women who use drugs across all the eight states of the Northeast.

"The worrisome finding is that in 44.9 per cent of these cases, the first injection is through a used needle. HIV/AIDS is not a concern for most persons while injecting for the first time, with about two-thirds (65.2 per cent) not thinking about HIV at the time of the first injection and only a very small proportion (6.6 per cent) believing that HIV is probable and very likely because of injecting drugs," it says.

Altogether 1,150 women who use drugs in the region were interviewed.

The 108-page report released earlier this month in New Delhi says societal pressure, changing roles, increased stress and alterations in lifestyle are making women in the country vulnerable to newer problems.

"As is true for all societies, women in the northeastern states are vulnerable to these changes. However, the lack of opportunities and development, and given the geographical proximity of these states to areas from where opioids and psychotropic drugs are sourced, makes women in Northeast India doubly vulnerable," it says.

The key reasons for injecting are greater euphoria, curiosity and peer influence. The survey reveals that in nearly two-thirds of the women, the first drug used other than tobacco/ alcohol is an opioid - either proxyvon or heroin.

The study has recommended a multi-disciplinary approach to address the key concerns of women who use drugs. It says women-centric targeted interventions need to be expanded in high HIV-burden states and immediately established in low HIV-burden states.

Chiranjeeb Kakoty, the director of North East Society for the Promotion of Youth and Masses, who runs a drug de-addiction centre in Guwahati, says women who use chemical substance(s) are in triple jeopardy.

One, they usually do so without being able to seek intervention which will help them overcome their problem - this is either because of problems in availability of services or even accessibility to those services.

Two, most of these women do not have a support system that encourages or will encourage them to recover.

Lastly, a large number of women involve their children in sex for payment and increase manifold the girl's vulnerability to HIV infection or progression to AIDS.

"It reinforces our understanding that irrespective of whether you are in a high prevalence state or in a vulnerable state, if you are injecting, your chances of tuberculosis, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus increases. Not to speak about the vulnerability to HIV infection - either because of the injecting practices or because of the sexual activity which leads to or is an effect of substance use," Kakoty told The Telegraph.

Cristina Albertin, UNODC representative for South Asia, says in the report that women who use drugs face a greater likelihood of acquiring several health and social harms, increased HIV/HCV risk. They also encounter significant barriers in accessing social protection services, especially healthcare services, including sexual, reproductive health and childcare.

"Women who use drugs and their health and social problem do not often show up in official statistics on drugs. Consequently (they) do not result in formulating policies and programmes tailormade for their needs," former police officer Kiran Bedi, the founder of Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation, said in the report.


The Telegraph, 26 March, 2015, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150326/jsp/frontpage/story_10932.jsp#.VRNxjI73-xM


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close