Injecting Drug Use : Problem in Punjab, Haryana serious: Study

[Guest guest]

Chandigarh, January 19

Punjab and Haryana are going the Nagaland, Manipur

way. At least that’s what the first-ever size

estimation of injecting drug use (IDU) population in

the two northern states and their capital Chandigarh

has revealed.

The study, conducted by Society for Promotion of Youth

and Masses (SPYM) in collaboration with UNAIDS and

AIIMS had further shown that most of the injecting

drug users in Punjab and Haryana were using

pharmaceutical preparations often mixed with

sedatives.

In an exclusive interview to The Tribune on the eve of

all-India release of the study on January 21, Rajesh

Kumar of SPYM said the situation in northern states

was alarming.

“We have been saying for long that the problem in

Punjab and Haryana is deep and serious. But we had

nothing to support our claims. This study, for the

first time, provides scientific proof of the problem

and lists vulnerable groups and services available to

them,” Kumar says.

Based on respondent driven sampling (RDS), a new

methodology, the study relies on a vast sample -

around 300 IDUs per district at the chosen sites in

Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. National AIDS Control

Organization (NACO) had long been saying that in

India, IDUs account for 2.2 percent of HIV

transmissions. But the SPYM study suggests that the

numbers affected by injecting drug use may be higher.

“The idea behind the study was to fill the existing

gaps in information available on IDUs in northern

states. The culture of denial about the problem needs

to be challenged. The problem in north is that the

cross-border supply of illegal drugs was banned, but

the demand for drugs had not been controlled.

Resultantly, addicts had taken to “legal” drugs easily

available on chemist shops. A greater danger was being

posed by a new category of drugs called stimulants,”

Kumar said.

Stimulants are more dangerous than depressants

(pharmaceutical preparations) as their withdrawal is

very serious.

“The incidence of dependence on stimulants is rising

in India. This category of drugs is very dangerous

because we yet don’t know much about them.

Rehabilitation of stimulant dependents is also a

challenge as strategies are not yet known,” Kumar

said.

As for the IDU study in Punjab and Haryana, SPYM

offered incentives to those who came for interviews.

“That was part of RDS. Peers, who induced addicts to

come forward for interviews were given incentives in

the form of T-shirts etc. Addicts, who turned up then

became peers themselves and got “peer” incentives.

They in turn urged other addicts to get sampled. The

chain kept growing,” Kumar said, adding that SPYM used

the services of Dr B.M. Tripathi and Dr Atul Ambekar

from AIIMS to study health and behaviour related

indicators pertaining to addicts.

To be released at a state-level function in Panjab

University on January 21, the study is very

significant in terms of its scope.

It profiles IDUs in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh,

lists the type of drugs they are using and why, maps

their needle-sharing practices and HIV risk, studies

their health-seeking behaviour besides pointing out

deficiencies in rehabilitation services available to

them. 30 NGOs partnered with SPYM in this project.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080120/cth1.htm#4