DISEASE SPREADS AMONG GAYS, INJECTING DRUG USERS ON RISE

The UN secretary-general's special envoy on HIV/Aids in the Asia-Pacific
region has raised concern over the rise in infection rates among gay men and
addicts who inject drugs.

Nafis Sadik said the infection rate among injecting drug users had risen
25%, from 40% to 50%, since the disease was discovered in 1984. Research in
Bangkok also showed the infection rate among gay men had reached 17%.

Dr Sadik said she did not completely understand the government's war on
drugs, but other countries' experiences indicated drug suppression only
increased the price and pushed drug use further underground.

``It doesn't stop the problem, it seems to drive the prices of drugs up and
sometimes increases the crime rate,'' she said.

A more comprehensive programme was needed to deal with the problem. It was
necessary to look at why people were using drugs. Since HIV and injecting
drug use were inter-related, political leaders should look at drug use as a
health and psychological problem instead of viewing it only as a crime.

``If you try to lock users up, it doesn't change their behaviour. Needles
are a source of infection and experience in countries successful in dealing
with injecting drug users has shown that they have to be pragmatic,'' she
said.

Needle exchange programmes should be supported by the state, even though
drug use was against the law, because it could be an important tool in
preventing the spread of HIV.

Drug users, like other groups, marry and have children, which meant that if
nothing was done to prevent them getting HIV they could transfer the virus
to their wives and children.

Meanwhile, administrators of the Global Fund on Aids, Tuberculosis and
Malaria began a three-day meeting in Chiang Mai yesterday. They appeared
likely to drop proposals made on harm reduction programmes because they were
perceived as being against the current political atmosphere of the country.

Karen Kaplan, the international advocacy coordinator of the Thai Aids
Treatment Action Group, said they had been informed that although the
country's coordinating mechanism, which is responsible for screening the
proposals, supported the three projects proposed on harm reduction, there
could be obstacles in receiving direct funding because of the political
situation.

Since the launch of the war on drugs, any form of support of drug use,
including harm reduction, was perceived as a crime by law enforcers, she
said.