Discrimination against drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic in Cambodia

29 May 2007

Tith Davy, executive director of Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA)-supported organisation Opèration Enfants du Cambodge (OEC), believes that without community consultation and education the number of drug users and levels of HIV and sexually transmitted infection are set to increase in Cambodia.

Her view is backed by Hak Sam Phon, coordinator of the organisation’s HIV and drugs programme. He argues that drug users should not be abandoned but instead need special care if they are not to be at risk. “They are not criminals but the real victims. If we ignore and discriminate against them they will be isolated, and then they use more drugs and the number of users will also increase,” he says.

The Alliance linking organisation has already reached up to 2,247 drug users through its programme. These are mostly yama and ice users, but they also include a number of injecting drug users in Phnom Penh. Yama and ice are widely available in Cambodia, and can be found in public areas like parks, streets, pubs, nightclubs, karaoke parlors, guesthouses and brothels.

KHANA has also targeted 4,157 vulnerable non-drug users through outreach activities to prevent young people from taking up drugs.

Backed by USAID funding, KHANA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Authority for Combating Drugs in 2006 to tackle HIV and drug use. The MoU covers HIV education programmes, peer outreach and support and referral services for drug users, as well as educational programmes for the general public and support for drug and HIV prevention work.

There are around 6,500 drug users in Cambodia , according to Ministry of the Interior figures from 2006. A participatory assessment conducted by KHANA partners between 2005 and 2006 found that the groups most at risk are young people who are not in school, sex workers and those whose HIV risk is already high but is compounded by behavioral change drugs such as amphetamines.

The participatory assessment also revealed why people use drugs: curiosity, peer pressure, family problems, domestic violence, boredom, unemployment, wanting to forget problems, trying to stay awake in order to do more work, prolonging a sexual experience and loneliness.

Hak Sam Phon is convinced that the way to reduce drug use and increase the practice of safer sex is to raise awareness and consult more with drug users. “Our peer educators spend nine days a month going from one village to another collecting information on drug use from the village heads. After that our peer educators – former drug users who know current drug users – can meet and consult with the users, providing them with information on the risks of drug use and how HIV and STIs relate to it,” he says.

Tith Davy comments: “First we were very worried that drug users are dangerous to get involved with. But when we start working with them we realised that they are in danger. Many drug users want to quit but they do not know how. They could not access information on the risks of drug use and safer sex. They know nothing about the health risks and HIV/AIDS related to drug use. They really need clear explanation about the risks.”