JOINT EFFORT TO CHECK HIV SPREAD

KOLKATA -- The Union government will extend its support to the "harm
reduction" measures endorsed by the World Health Organisation and the
UNAIDS to minimise the spread of HIV among Injecting Drug Users
(IDUs), though these measures are not supported by the existing laws
of the country.

Over the last two decades, Saarc countries have witnessed an increase
in HIV cases among IDUs. To stem the epidemic, several countries in
the region have introduced measures like oral substitution programmes
for IDUs. The positive outcomes of such harm reduction measures are
endorsed by the WHO and the UNAIDS. However, these interventions are
sometimes challenged as they do not fall within the bounds of the
existing narcotics and penal laws of the country.

Convener of the Parliamentary Forum on HIV/AIDS, Mr Oscar Fernandes,
however, said on yesterday: "The Union government and the
Parliamentary Forum extends its support to these interventions. We
are trying to bring the legislators of the country together to
discuss these issues".

He was speaking at a function organised by the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime to release a report titled "Legal and Policy
Concerns related to IDU Harm Reduction in Saarc countries".

The report was prepared by Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS unit, an NGO
commissioned by the UNODC.

Mr Fernandes also said he will raise the issues in a conference of
International Labour Organisation scheduled in Geneva this year and
discuss with the labour ministers of several countries on the
sidelines of the conference. The report examines the interface
between law, policy and IDU harm reduction practices in Bangladesh,
Bhutan India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also
suggests potential measures to harmonise IDU harm reduction with the
existing law.