Speakers at a programme have said that harm reduction is the only way to reduce HIV infection from and among Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs) but it has failed to have any impact in the Nepali context, despite 13 years of implementation, due to lack of seriousness on part of the government.

Speaking at a programme on “Media advocacy on HIV and Drugs” Dipu Joshi, program coordinator of Naya Goreto (NG), a non-governmental organization working in the field of HIV/AIDS said, “The number of IDUs is increasing due to lack of effective implementation of harm reduction, which is a realistic approach to reduce HIV prevalence amongst drug users.”

He said that harm reduction couldn’t succeed unless society stops treating drug users as criminals.

He said that it was also to make people stop injecting, if they are already addicted, which ultimately helps minimize risk of HIV infection, according to reports.

Prem Limbu, advocacy officer of Youth Vision said that it was important to treat addiction as a mental disease and focus on its treatment, adding, “Increasing number of IDUs is one of the major factors contributing to the rapid spread of HIV infection among general people.”

Meanwhile, a report of the World Bank entitled, “AIDS in South Asia: Understanding and Responding to a Heterogeneous Epidemic” said, “The future size of Nepal’s HIV epidemic will depend above all on the scope, coverage and effectiveness of programs for sex workers and clients, as well as IDUs and their sexual partners.”

“Nepal appears to have the potential for a substantial epidemic, at least among high-risk groups, especially female sex workers and IDUs. Injecting drug use occurs across the country and significantly overlaps with commercial sex. A high number of women migrate or are trafficked to work as female Sex Workers in India, especially Mumbai,” the report adds.

“Although the HIV epidemic in Nepal seems somewhat more advanced than that in Bangladesh or Pakistan, similar priorities apply—such as an urgent need to increase targeted interventions for female sex workers, MSM (men having sex with men), and IDUs, in particular.

The report further said, “The single most important impediment to a stronger, more effective response has been identified as the lack of an appropriate institutional mechanism with sufficient multisectoral partnership, civil society involvement, bureaucratic flexibility, authority, and capacity. The result has been weak implementation.”