CENTRAL ASIA: Heroin Use Up, AIDS Cases ‘Surprisingly Low’
Heroin use is increasing across central
Asia, and some countries have seen the number of intravenous drug users quadruple over the past
decade, even though the number of drug-related AIDS cases remains
"surprisingly low," the New York Times reports.
Produced mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan and transported along the ancient Great Silk
Road, heroin has replaced the
less-addictive, less-powerful opium as the "drug of choice" in
the former Soviet republics of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The increased drug
trafficking has led to strained police resources, increased
corruption and increased financing of "Islamic militants trying
to destabilize the region." Last February, needle exchange programs financed by the United Nations and
the New York-based Open Society Institute
began in two cities in Kyrgyzstan, with the number of
participants quickly exceeding all expectations. One program
coordinator reported that she expected 10 or 15 new clients a
month, but one center currently handles 180 people monthly. At
the exchange centers, clients can also receive free medical care
and blood tests. In a March survey of 100 clients at one center,
96 admitted that they shared needles, one-third reported using
the same needle more than 20 times, and half said that they did
not know they could be infected with HIV through needles. One
clinic doctor said that stopping the exchange of needles is "not
enough" to curb the spread of HIV, and called for an "extensive
rehabilitation program" for intravenous drug users. However,
there are no such programs in countries like Kyrgyzstan, where
half of the population lives below the poverty level and the
national annual budget is only $300 million. A study by the
United Nations and the Soros
Foundation found that between 11% and 18% of intravenous drug
users in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, are infected with HIV, and the
infection rate in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, where there are fewer
education programs, is between 32% and 49% (Frantz, New
York Times, 10/16).
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