Oral substitution therapy for IDU from September 23

LUDHIANA: NACO would start oral substitution therapy for intravenous drug users (IDU) from September 23 to mitigate their chances of contacting HIV.
The workers who would be involved in the project have been imparted training and the counsellors recruited.
Under this programme, oral medicines would be administered to the IDU to help them quit the habit.It would also be an attempt to reduce the risk of HIV transmission among the community. Most of the IDUs share needles for injecting the drugs, thereby putting themselves in high-risk group of being afflicted with HIV.
District AIDS Control Programme officer Dr Geetika said this is the latest offering from NACO for the IDUs to reduce the risk of getting infected with HIV.
The guidelines of the projects have been received. NGOs have been rope in to motivate the patients to come at Civil Hospital for this treatment, she added.
A few weeks ago, a study was conducted by an NGO, Rising Youth, which revealed that 75% of the truck drivers belonged to the IDU group.
What is more alarming is that this percentage also visited commercial sex workers but only 10% of them used precautions like condoms. Hence, they not only put themselves at risk by sharing the needles but also the sex workers and their other customers in turn.
Another study by Ludhiana Citizen Council found that only 17% of the respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS and were unaware about the modes of its transmission and symptoms.
At Risk
75% of the truck drivers belong to the IDU group. What is more alarming is that this percentage also visited commercial sex workers but only 10% of them used precautions like condoms. Hence, they not only put themselves at risk by sharing the needles but also the sex workers and other customers who are visiting these workers