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THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
has announced
that it will allow injecting drug users to be given the
opioid substitute buprenorphine in hospitals. Making
the announcement at the launch of IHRA’s
conference, Dr Walid Ammar, director general of the
Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said: ‘It is the hope
of the Lebanese government that buprenorphine will
save lives.’ The first pilot programme will run for 12
months. A planned second phase will then allow for
the sale of buprenorphine to all public hospital
pharmacies in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s lawchange
on buprenorphine
TOO LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE’S DRUG
USE
and there was no agreed methodology to collect the data,
Marie Phelan from IHRA told delegates in the
Young people in search
of evidence
session. The most commonly used data collection
method was school-based surveys, which although they had the
advantage of collecting large-scale samples could lead to significant
underestimates of drug use through their reliance on self-reporting.
Even when the surveys were conducted anonymously, young
people tended to lie through fear of discovery, she explained,
something backed up by an American study of hair samples which
had found a 52 per cent higher rate of cocaine use than the self-
reporting study had indicated.
Another serious concern was that the surveys did not include
homeless young people and those excluded from education,
although they were known to have high numbers using drugs and
engaged in risk-taking behaviours. It was important to improve data
collection methods and increase the number of street-based
surveys, she said. ‘Until we know the extent of the harm we can’t
provide for those who need help,’ she said.
Brun Gonzalez, from ESPOLI in Mexico, reported how recent
studies in South America had demonstrated that regional levels of
drug use were rising, while the age at which people started to use
drugs was falling, with a study in some states showing higher levels
of drug use among those aged between 12 and 15 than those aged
25 and above. One serious consequence of the drug use was the
danger of HIV from risky sexual behaviour, he said, and a new focus
was needed to tackle the consequences of young people’s drug use.
The need for a new approach was restated by John Howard from
the University of New South Wales, who had been involved in work
with young drug users in Asia, where many countries excluded
young people from harm reduction programmes and compulsory
treatment was the norm. ‘There is a need to increase ways of
delivering youth-friendly harm reduction programmes, and there are
three centres across the region examining how this can best be
achieved,’ he told delegates.
The lack of data around young people’s drug use in Lebanon was
explored by Patricia Haddad from MENAHRA, in a study focusing on
the reasons why young people started to use. The study had
commenced in 2008, recruiting participants receiving treatment from
a Lebanese NGO. The group came from a cross section of society,
but it was much harder to involve women in the study because of the
stigma they faced, she explained.
More data needed on young people’s drug use
6 –
Daily Update
– DAY TWO – Tuesday 5 April 2011
Have your say!
THE GLOBAL COMMISSION ON HIV AND THE LAW
will be holding an
informal consultation this morning to explain its aims and structure, but also
to hear from delegates about what they think its priorities should be. ‘That’s
by far the most important thing – to hear from the people in the room,’ said
the commission’s vice chair, Shereen Elfeki.
The commission was established by the United Nations Development
Programme to examine the impact of laws that criminalise and discriminate
against people living with HIV/AIDS, and those at highest risk of infection.
‘As someone pointed out in one of the sessions yesterday, a great many of
the problems that people face are legal. We want to hear what people think
we should be focusing on, and the key is hearing from people at the sharp
end – not just of formulating laws, but those on the receiving end of the laws
themselves – and we’re very keen to hear from people from all regions.’
The meeting will be held in the Noura Hall, Metropolitan Hotel, at 10.30.