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UN agencies expand HIV prevention services to drug users |
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21:36, August 21, 2007 |
Several UN agencies announced Tuesday an initiative to expand HIV prevention services to injecting drug users (IDUs) at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP).
The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a joint statement that the initiative aims to reduce the spread of HIV among drug users and their regular sex partners in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries.
The project, Prevention of Transmission of HIV Among Drug Users in SAARC Countries, includes drug substitution treatment and safer practices, using outreach to provide drug users with referral to services, clean needles and syringes, voluntary confidential HIV counseling and testing, and condom promotion.
Across Asia, access to HIV risk-reduction services for drug users remains alarmingly low -- reaching on an average only about 5 percent of the target population, said the statement.
The joint UN initiative prioritizes regional training to assist countries in establishing opioid substitution treatment to help reduce criminality, infectious diseases and drug-related deaths among drug users.
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