Kerala NGO resumed Needle and Syringe Program (NSP)

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

The Centre for Social Research and Development (CSRD), the first and the only

NGO in Kerala carrying out the Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) for the

Injecting Drug Users (IDU)has resumed it after a gap of over an year.

It was exactly 3 years ago when CSRD initiated the first IDU project of Kerala

with the financial support of Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS).

However, after one year of implementation the project, CSRD had to suspend the

NSP component from its activities due to an ‘administrative order’ from the

District Collector.

Which has ensued several unavoidable over doze death and concomitant law and

order problems which occurred in the vicinity of its Drop in Centre (DIC) in a

slum area in the periphery of Kozikode city (Calicut) known as “Bangladesh

Colony’, where about hundred IDUs used to drop in every day to utilize the NSP

services.

Although, the NSP component of the project was suspended the out reach project

continued with all other activities including referrals for voluntary

detoxifications.

During the one year absence of the NSP, though the project struggled to make

the clean syringe needles available from few sympathetic medical shops it was

not always successful.

The impact of the absence of the NSP become evident from the results of the

second sentinel survey which recorded a doubling of HIV prevalence among the IDU

population of Calicut. Baseline prevalence was 2.58% (N=145) and the latest was

5.2% (N=231)

In response to such public health urgency, despite the existing objections

from various quarters, including the local administrators CSRD has re-launched

NSP. As a strategy shift, instead of doing the NSP at a visible fixed location

of a Drop In Centre as earlier, currently, we are implementing it through

various mobile outlets- to maintain the client confidentiality.

We would like to hear about the experiences of implementing NSPs in small towns

in India.

In solidarity

Tito

Director

CSRD, Calicut.

Kerala

e-mail: csrd@...