The Nepali Department for International Development, United Nations Development Program ( UNDP) and Richmond Fellowship will jointly run a syringe exchange program, drop-in center, for female drug users in Nepali capital Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts.

Senior program officer of the UNDP, Imana Lohar, told reporters here on Sunday that over 150 female drug users will be given syringes through this program.

A user has to submit the used syringe if she wants a new one and one person will be given only two syringes a day, she added.

According to Lohar, the seven-month project may be extended if the program is deemed effective.

The organizers said 30 women drug users have already contacted them for the service.

The project aims at reducing the harms of communicable diseases through exchanged syringes. The women drug users will also get counseling on primary health care, safer sex habits and kicking the drug habit, Lohar said.

Initially the program aims to provide support to 150 women, but will be extended to cover over 800 men and women drug users in the future.

According to Richmond Fellowship, a non-governmental organization, there are over 500 women drug users in Kathmandu Valley. As many as 150 of them use syringe to inject drugs.

There are around 70,000 drug users in Nepal and 40 percent of them use syringe to inject drugs.

A report by Family Health International states that 69 percent of drug injecting users in Kathmandu Valley have been infected with HIV/AIDS.

Source: Xinhua