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Mizzima: World conference on harm r



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 World conference on ?harm reduction? to be held in Asia for first time

New Delhi, March 28, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)

?As of end 2000, India has 10% of the world?s population of people
living with HIV/AIDS but it has attracted only 1% of the global
resources aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS. This imbalance must be addressed.
Because we urgently need more resources to stop the spread of HIV in
India particularly in North East?, said Dr. David Miller, Country
Programme Advisor for UNAIDS in India.

Speaking to the journalists on the forth-coming ?International
Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm? in New Delhi today,
Dr. David Miller pointed out that 36.1 million adults worldwide were
living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2000 and there were 780,000 newly HIV
infected persons last year alone in South and South East Asia.

In India where the first case of HIV was detected in 1986, North-East
has remained as the highest percentage of seroprevelance among Injecting
Drug Users (IDUs) with 81%. The estimated number of IDUs in Manipur is
between 9,000 and 12,000.

To reduce the health, social and economic harms associated with drugs by
mobilizing local, national, regional and international organizations to
assist individuals and communities, the 12th International Conference on
the Reduction of Drug Related Harm will be held in New Delhi from 1st to
5th April 2001 and the theme of the conference is ?Community development
for harm reduction?.

About 700 delegates including leading international scientists,
academics, experts, government officials and NGO representatives from
all over the world and UN agencies are expected to participate in the
conference, which will be hosted by SHARAN, a local organization
actively working on management of drug use and HIV/AIDS in India.

?In many countries, including the US, injecting drug use is the main
cause for HIV/AIDS today. And it is very much in our region. The
conference will be looking at North East India, Myanmar, Thailand,
etc..?, said Mr. Luke Samson, director of SHARAN.

?We are no longer looking at drug use as something which only the elite
can afford and which affects only people who have disposable income. We
are looking at drug use as a syndrome which actually affects the
marginalized and stigmatized segments of the community in very chaotic
way?, he continued.

The key issues to be discussed at the Conference include HIV prevention
and injecting drug use in the region, learning from harm reduction
experiences and redefining the drug environment.

The first conference on harm reduction was held in Liverpool, U.K. in
1990. Subsequent conferences have been held in various parts of the
world annually and this is the first time that the conference is to be
held in Asia.

Mizzima has also learnt that the United Nations General Assembly is
having a special session on HIV and AIDS from 25th to 27th June this
year.



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<center><b><u><font color="#3333FF"><font size=+2>World conference on ?harm
reduction? to be held in Asia for first time</font></font></u></b></center>

<p><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+1>New Delhi, March 28, 2001</font></font>
<br><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+1>Mizzima News Group <a href="http://www.mizzima.com";>(www.mizzima.com)</a></font></font>
<p><font size=+1>?As of end 2000, India has 10% of the world?s population
of people living with HIV/AIDS but it has attracted only 1% of the global
resources aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS. This imbalance must be addressed.
Because we urgently need more resources to stop the spread of HIV in India
particularly in North East?, said Dr. David Miller, Country Programme Advisor
for UNAIDS in India.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Speaking to the journalists on the forth-coming ?International
Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm? in New Delhi today, Dr.
David Miller pointed out that 36.1 million adults worldwide were living
with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2000 and there were 780,000 newly HIV infected
persons last year alone in South and South East Asia.</font>
<p><font size=+1>In India where the first case of HIV was detected in 1986,
North-East has remained as the highest percentage of seroprevelance among
Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) with 81%. The estimated number of IDUs in Manipur
is between 9,000 and 12,000.</font>
<p><font size=+1>To reduce the health, social and economic harms associated
with drugs by mobilizing local, national, regional and international organizations
to assist individuals and communities, the 12th International Conference
on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm will be held in New Delhi from 1st
to 5th April 2001 and the theme of the conference is ?Community development
for harm reduction?.</font>
<p><font size=+1>About 700 delegates including leading international scientists,
academics, experts, government officials and NGO representatives from all
over the world and UN agencies are expected to participate in the conference,
which will be hosted by SHARAN, a local organization actively working on
management of drug use and HIV/AIDS in India.</font>
<p><font size=+1>?In many countries, including the US, injecting drug use
is the main cause for HIV/AIDS today. And it is very much in our region.
The conference will be looking at North East India, Myanmar, Thailand,
etc..?, said Mr. Luke Samson, director of SHARAN.</font>
<p><font size=+1>?We are no longer looking at drug use as something which
only the elite can afford and which affects only people who have disposable
income. We are looking at drug use as a syndrome which actually affects
the marginalized and stigmatized segments of the community in very chaotic
way?, he continued.</font>
<p><font size=+1>The key issues to be discussed at the Conference include
HIV prevention and injecting drug use in the region, learning from harm
reduction experiences and redefining the drug environment.</font>
<p><font size=+1>The first conference on harm reduction was held in Liverpool,
U.K. in 1990. Subsequent conferences have been held in various parts of
the world annually and this is the first time that the conference is to
be held in Asia.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Mizzima has also learnt that the United Nations General
Assembly is having a special session on HIV and AIDS from 25th to 27th
June this year.</font>
<p>&nbsp;</html>

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