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LEBANESE DRUG USERS LEARNED TO ADOPT A RANGE OF
SURVIVAL BEHAVIOURS
in order to go about their lives,
performing artist and event organiser Rawya El Chab told delegates
in the
Drug users speak
session.
She had been a drug user for 12 years and was now on an opioid
substitution programme, she said. ‘The truth is that when a drug
user follows a set of rules it’s possible to avoid arrest or compulsory
treatment. When I chose to use drugs I could not afford to draw
attention to myself, so I had to modify how I looked and interacted
with society. I started using make-up to hide the circles around my
eyes and changed my outfits from my previous rebellious “couldn’t
give a damn” appearance.’
Being a woman made it easier, she told delegates. ‘It’s more
difficult for men. People are stopped and searched on the street,
and those are decisions that are based on appearance – on
clothes, haircuts, attitude.’ It was also crucial for drug users to be
on good terms with their neighbours she said, so as to not draw
attention to themselves, and most drug users tried to leave their
parents’ home as soon as they were able, even though rents were
high. ‘It’s not possible to hide your use, and there’s so much
misinformation around.’
The first reaction of people’s parents was usually denial, she said,
followed by anger and panic. ‘People can be taken from one
hospital psychiatric ward to another, while some parents might just
throw them in jail to teach them the hard way – and we all know
what happens then. Many people overdose within a couple of days
of release.
‘It is essential that drug users become equal partners in the harm
reduction practices that are starting to show up on our shores,’ she
told the conference. ‘If harm reduction is to take hold in Lebanon
then it’s important we change the discourse, and change the minds
and beliefs of those who work with our community.’
Tuesday 5 April 2011 – DAY TWO –
Daily Update
– 5
Learning the rules
INDONESIA’S RESPONSE TO THE HIV EPIDEMIC
among its injecting
drug users had initially been hampered by the country’s legal framework, Dr
Kemal Siregar of the Indonesia National AIDS Commission told delegates in
yesterday morning’s
Building capacity
session.
However, civil society organisations had been working hard to address
the situation since the beginning, with systemic campaigning by drug
user activist groups and NGOs. In 2006 the Ministry of Health issued a
decree on harm reduction service guidelines, and three years later a new
law helped to mainstream harm reduction practices.
By 2009 harm reduction services were available in 16 provinces,
reaching more than 50,000 drug users – around 48 per cent of the drug-
using population – compared to just 15,000 in 2006. ‘People who inject
drugs now have access to information on HIV and hepatitis C and can
access sterile needles and syringes,’ he said. ‘Research shows that they
are consistently not sharing equipment’. Sixty-three per cent of drug users
reported that they were not sharing equipment in 2010, compared to less
than 50 per cent in 2004. The final challenge was to change sexual
behaviour in the drug-using population and promote consistent condom
use, as this remained low, he said.
‘Civil society and people who use drugs empowered with information,
working in partnership with government agencies, have played a crucial
role in response to the HIV epidemic, helping to bring it under control.’
Bringing HIV under
control in Indonesia
Harm reduction superheroes:
Methadone Man and
Buprenorphine Babe, characters developed by the Open
Society Institute’s International Harm Reduction
Development Programme (IHRD) to raise awareness about
the lack of access to these life-saving drugs. In many
countries with high rates of HIV, largely driven by injecting
drug use, these medicines are banned. Information about
the campaign is at www.methadoneman.org
Rawya El Chab:
‘There’s so much misinformation around’